Liquid, Astralis penned cadiaN sale in 36 hours
Fans were stunned on September 17th when Astralis revealed that former Liquid IGL Casper "cadiaN" Møller had joined them as their new leader. The well-traveled Dane would replace Alexander "br0" Bro in the lineup with Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz stepping down from the calling role.
With absolutely no rumors about the potential transfer, fans wondered how long the sides had been negotiations, with it being revealed that it took the two sides just 36 hours to come to an agreement.
Nikolaj Nyholm, founder and CEO of Astralis, told Dust2.us that the agreement came quickly because Liquid leadership was in Copenhagen to watch their team lift the trophy during Dota 2's The International 13.
With Astralis coming away with a disappointing elimination at the hands of Complexity during ESL Pro League Season 20, the Danish organization knew they needed to act. "It's obviously not a decision taken after just one tournament," Nyholm told Dust2.us, "but the decision on caidaN was only after ESL Pro League."
cadiaN noted that the move might come as a surprise in the official announcement by Astralis. "Some may even question whether stepping away from the AWP is the right decision," cadiaN wrote in an Astralis press release, "but the truth is, I share the same vision as Astralis: always striving to be the best, building a top Danish CS roster, and competing for the biggest titles."
cadiaN will reunite with both Martin "stavn" Lund and Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard on Astralis, less than a year after the trio's turbulent and public split saw cadiaN leave Heroic, only for stavn and jabbi to leave for Astralis soon after.
"We've addressed the challenges we faced in the past, and today we're fully aligned," cadiaN wrote. "After a year of reflection, we’re still hungry for trophies and continue to share the same tactical vision that drove our success before."
The team are expected to compete all together with this new lineup for the first time at BLAST Premier Fall Finals.
