In 2021, the CS:GO scene saw exceptional growth in its academy ecosystem. Many teams decided to invest in young and upcoming players by recruiting them to their academy squads and shaping them into the stars of tomorrow.

One of the organizations that invested in an academy team was Astralis, creating Astralis Talent. The second squad of the Danish org took part in numerous tournaments. Now it’s preparing for the new year, and it has acquired a new head coach, Martin “trace” Heldt. He replaces Dennis “VNG” Vang.

Trace is a well-known character in the Danish Counter-Strike scene. As a player, he once represented organizations like Fnatic and SK Gaming. His impressive form throughout the years earned him top-three and top-four spots in HLTV’s top players of 2010 and 2011 year, respectively.

For the past few months, trace has been behind the steering wheel of teams such as Lyngby Vikings and Team Singularity. With the former, he reached 20th place in HLTV’s ranking at the beginning of December.

“Martin has already proven his capabilities as a coach,” Kasper Hvidt, the director of sports at Astralis said in a press release. “I am convinced, together with Martin, we will see our Counter-Strike talents grow and reap the fruits of the work that has already been done while also developing the set-up team and individual players.”

“I come with a lot of thoughts and ideas, Astralis has both the tools and strong performance culture, and I see a team with players who can achieve a lot if we do things right,” Hvidt added.

Astralis Talent will begin their CS:GO season on Jan. 3 with the inauguration of the WePlay Academy League Season Three. The team’s first rival will be Young Ninjas—the academy squad of Ninjas in Pyjamas. The match is scheduled to kick off at 9am CT.

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