Astralis战队发布《Behind The Stars》纪录片, device也曾怀疑“我们是否够好”

第一季带领观众走进了他们在2023年上半年忙碌的赛季。 

Astralis称这部纪录片为一个“未经过滤的故事”，展示了丹麦俱乐部和战队在经历了三年无冠之后，如何努力重返反恐精英的巅峰的幕后情景。

《Behind The Stars》从1月2日的一次会议开始，工作人员和选手们分享了他们对2023年的目标和期望。不到两周前，丹麦俱乐部刚刚从MASONIC签下了 ⁠Buzz，以填补k0nfig⁠被解雇后留下的空缺。

“对我来说，Astralis就像一只冬眠了一整个冬天的熊，现在正在醒来，”当时的体育总监Kasper Hvidt说，并补充说他的目标是让战队在那一年进入前三名。

快进三个月，Astralis没能够参加BLAST.tv巴黎Major——他们在2023年的主要目标之一——因为他们在欧洲RMR赛事中以1-3的战绩出局。

随着成绩继续低于预期，压力不断增加，⁠gla1ve⁠和Xyp9x坦言他们不得不面对被踢出战队的威胁。资深队长甚至透露，他在三月份的时候就被告知，如果他不提高自己的水平，他就会被移除。

在赛季最后阶段之前的一次团队会议上，气氛很沉闷。“我感觉到了一些怀疑，不知道我们是否足够好，⁠device⁠说。

四月份，Astralis进行了阵容调整，提拔了青训队的选手⁠Altekz来替换Xyp9x。在为了IEM达拉斯和BLAST春季总决赛而前往美国的旅途中，HLTV报道称，丹麦俱乐部再次将目光投向了⁠Staehr⁠，选手和教练⁠casle⁠承认这个消息加剧了已经不稳定的局面。

在华盛顿被淘汰后，gla1ve在和女友的电话中承认，选手们担心自己的工作。他和Xyp9x最终被踢出了战队，Astralis从Sprout签下了Staehr，以及自由选手⁠b0RUP⁠ Borup。后勤人员也发生了重大变化，Hvidt和首席分析师⁠HUNDEN⁠被解雇。

纪录片的最后一集围绕着这些变化和战队想要走的新方向展开。⁠blameF⁠接任了指挥的职位，他指出，战队在两年内没有“丝毫”进步，尽管进行了无数次的阵容变动。“我们招募了新的选手，却只是为了和以前打的一样，”他在对队友说。“所有的新选手只是接替了之前的选手。”

你可以通过访问Astralis的YouTube频道或B站官方账号来观看《Behind The Stars》，第一集已经嵌入在下面（等B站官方账号上传）。根据Astralis的说法，这只是纪录片的首季，这意味着未来还会有更多的剧集发布。

纪录片在Astralis在哥本哈根参加BLAST秋季总决赛的首场比赛前两天发布。和六个月前一样，战队陷入了动荡之中，有报道称Astralis对Heroic的二人组stavn和jabbi⁠感兴趣。

HLTV在11月14日报道称，Astralis即将签下这两位丹麦选手，不过他们还不能为战队出战。他们可能会在BetBoom Dacha的首次亮相，这是一个30万美元的比赛，定于12月5日至10日在迪拜举行。

ASTRALIS RELEASE ‘BEHIND THE STARS’ DOCUMENTARY

The first season takes viewers inside the team's hectic tournament season during the first half of 2023.

Described by Astralis as an “unfiltered story,” the documentary offers a behind-the-scenes look as the Danish organization and the team work to return to the top of the Counter-Strike scene after a titleless three years.

‘Behind The Stars’ begins with a meeting on January 2 in which staff and players share their goals and expectations for 2023. Less than two weeks earlier, the Danish organization had signed Christian "⁠Buzz⁠" Andersen from MASONIC to fill the spot created by Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke’s dismissal.

"To me, Astralis is like a bear that has been sleeping all winter but is now waking up," said then Director of Sports Kasper Hvidt, adding that he aimed for the team to break into the top 3 that year.

Fast forward three months, and Astralis failed to qualify for the BLAST.tv Paris Major — one of their main targets for 2023 — after crashing out of the European RMR with a 1-3 record.

As results continued to fall short of expectations and pressure mounted, Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander and Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth opened up about having to deal with the constant threat of being kicked from the team. The veteran captain even revealed that he had been told in March that he would be removed if he didn’t step up his game.

In a team meeting before the final stretch of the season, the mood was somber. “I feel some doubt about whether or not we're good enough,” Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz said.

In April, Astralis pulled the trigger on a roster change, promoting academy player Alexander "⁠Altekz⁠" Givskov to replace Xyp9x. And halfway through the team’s U.S. trip for IEM Dallas and the BLAST Premier Spring Final, HLTV reported that the Danish organization once again had its sights on Victor "⁠Staehr⁠" Staehr, with players and coach Peter "⁠casle⁠" Ardenskjold admitting that the story added to an already uneasy situation.

In a phone conversation with his girlfriend after the elimination in Washington, gla1ve admitted that players were left fearing for their jobs. He and Xyp9x ended up on the chopping block as Astralis signed Staehr from Sprout and free agent Johannes "⁠b0RUP⁠" Borup. Significant changes were also made to the backroom staff as Hvidt and Head Analyst Nicolai "⁠HUNDEN⁠" Petersen were let go.

The final episode of the documentary is centered on those changes and the new direction that the team wants to take. Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer, who took over as in-game leader, noted that the team hadn’t improved “in the slightest” in two years despite making countless roster changes. "We recruited new players just to play the exact same way as before,” he is seen saying to his teammates. “All the new players simply took over from the previous players.”

You can watch ‘Behind The Stars’ by heading over to Astralis’ YouTube channel, with the first episode embedded below. According to Astralis, this is only the debut season of the documentary, which means that more episodes are expected to be released in the future.

The documentary comes out two days before Astralis play their first match at the BLAST Premier Fall Final, in Copenhagen. And just like six months ago, the team finds itself in turmoil, amid reports of Astralis' interest in the Heroic duo of Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund and Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard.

HLTV reported on November 14 that Astralis are close to signing the Danish pair, though they aren't able to play for the team just yet. They could make their debut at BetBoom Dacha, a $300,000 tournament scheduled for December 5-10 in Dubai.