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Astralis will play with Kristoffer "⁠Kristou⁠" Aamand instead of their star AWPer at Elisa Masters Espoo.

The return of Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz to Astralis was a highly anticipated move that had been rumored ever since the AWPer decided to step back from the game due to mental health reasons on Ninjas in Pyjamas late last year.

For both Astralis and device it presented an opportunity to return to the top of competitive Counter-Strike, after the organization missed out on a spot at the IEM Rio Major and after the AWPer was sitting on the sidelines for nearly a year.

However, device's first official appearance under his old banner will now have to wait until 2023, as Astralis has announced that the star AWPer will not be playing at Elisa Masters Espoo, their last tournament of the year.

device's return to the server will not happen in Espoo

In their official statement, Astralis said that device "has immediately become a central part of the team," and "even though we’re all eager for him to play his first tournament, we have time to do things right without forcing anything."

Standing in for the AWPer is Kristou, who has spent the last two and half months as a part of Astralis Talent. The 20-year-old Dane becomes the second player from the academy team to step up to the main squad as Mikkel "⁠MistR⁠" Thomsen will continue to play following the departure of Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke.

Read more k0nfig and Astralis part ways

Following the announcement, Astralis's lineup for Elisa Masters Espoo is as follows:

Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth
Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander
Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer
Mikkel "⁠MistR⁠" Thomsen
Kristoffer "⁠Kristou⁠" Aamand (stand-in)

Peter "⁠casle⁠" Ardenskjold (coach)

Kristoffer 'Kristou' Aamand Age: 20 Team: Astralis Talent Rating 1.0: 0.96 Maps played: 423 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.68 Ninjas in Pyjamas #13 Patrick 'es3tag' HansenFredrik 'REZ' SternerHampus 'hampus' PoserAleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenLudvig 'Brollan' Brolin Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander Age: 27 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 0.98 Maps played: 1733 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.66 Kristian 'k0nfig' Wienecke Age: 25 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 1593 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.69 Astralis Talent #83 Kristoffer 'Kristou' AamandPatrick 'Patti' LarsenAlexander 'Altekz' GivskovAlexander 'br0' BroNicklas 'jarko' Rasmussen Peter 'casle' Ardenskjold Age: 36 Team: AstralisC Nicolai 'device' Reedtz Age: 27 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.16 Maps played: 1787 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.62 Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth Age: 27 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 2026 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.61 Astralis #18 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzBenjamin 'blameF' BremerMikkel 'MistR' Thomsen Benjamin 'blameF' Bremer Age: 25 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.15 Maps played: 928 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.61 Mikkel 'MistR' Thomsen Age: 18 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 0.90 Maps played: 162 KPR: 0.61 DPR: 0.69