Alpha Gaming completely rebuilt their Counter-Strike lineup in August, signing five unproven Danish players who didn’t need long to find success. Even though Alpha hasn’t won any major events, they placed second at Dust2.dk Ligaen Season 24 and performed well at United21 Season 9 last month.

Nexus Gaming re-signed Ersin “ERSIN” Chiriac last week to fill in the gap left behind by the departure of Cristi “smekk” Flutur. The changes came shortly after a rough run at HATOR Games #1, where Nexus placed 9th�C12th. Still, the Romanian Counter-Strike team claimed a bronze medal from United21 Season 9 a day prior, so they’re in good shape.

Esports betting sites have Alpha Gaming priced as an underdog, which makes sense considering Nexus Gaming has accomplished more. However, Nexus is missing a player and has yet to announce a replacement, making Alpha Gaming a more appealing option at the offered betting odds.

Astralis Talent enters their first meeting with MOUZ NXT in over one year as an $2.62 underdog, which doesn’t sound right. Even though they’ve not looked incredible over the last two months, neither has MOUZ NXT.

Despite fielding a stronger roster, Christoffer “Chr1zN” Storgaard and co. haven’t won a tournament since CCT North Europe Series #5 in June of 2023. They’ve managed just one top-four finish at OFK BGD Esports Series #1 but haven’t placed higher than top-12 across five events on Counter-Strike 2.

In contrast, Astralis Talent made the semifinals of Dust2.dk Ligaen Season 24 and reached the finals of United21 Season 9 three weeks ago. The two tournaments didn’t feature any tough opponents; however, Astralis Talent is at least in good form.

This has the potential to be a close game, and even though MOUZ NXT has a higher ceiling, Astralis Talent is in much better shape.

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As a result of the move, the player who has entered into free agency will not represent Astralis Talent going into the fall season. Per the release, the Danish esports organisation described Kristou as a committed and professional player who significantly contributed to their victories.

“Kristou consistently demonstrated high professionalism and commitment, significantly contributing to the team’s recent achievements, including securing victories in the domestic league POWER Ligaen and the Y-Games Pro League,” Astralis wrote.

“Astralis wishes Kristou the best in his future endeavours and allows him to explore opportunities with other esports organisations.”

In a separate post, Kristou revealed that he was searching for a new team “where I can take it to the next step.”

The move comes just 10 months after the player was signed to Astralis Talent. Kristou’s time with the academy lineup has resulted in multiple wins in both online and offline events.

During his stint, Astralis notably won two local LAN trophies at the POWER Ligaen Season 23 Finals and NPF Invitational 2022, reaching a 1.06 rating in both competitions.

The player also helped Astralis Talent win six online CS:GO tournaments, the biggest of which was the Champion of Champions Tour Europe Series 4 earlier this year.

Astralis have made multiple organisational changes across their main and academy divisions over the past weeks. Kasper Hvidt and Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen were let go last week, while Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander and Andreas “Xyp9x” H?jsleth were recently benched from the team.

Other changes involved moving Alexander “Altekz” Givskov back to the academy team and signing former Sprout player Victor “Staehr” Staehr. Astralis also recently promoted Johannes “b0RUP” Borup and Mathias “?R0nic?” Pinholt from the academy lineup.

With the move, the academy’s active lineup consists of Patrick “?Patti?” Larsen, Alexander “?br0?” Bro, Alexander “?Altekz?” Givskov, and Mikkel “?MistR?” Thomsen.

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