The two most succesful Counter-Strike teams in Denmark, Astralis and Dignitas, have just announced a surprise player trade. Astralis will be dropping René "cajunb" Borg from their squad, as Dignitas star player Markus "Kjaerbye" Kjærbye takes his spot.
The move comes after several disappointing results for Astralis, including group stage eliminations at DreamHack Masters Malmö and the ESL Pro League finals. For a team shooting for at least top 4 finishes at every event, that's not good enough.
Despite Kjaerbye's young age, he's already proven himself to be a formidable player. Still, many observers agree that he's still yet to hit his peak, so hopefully he can pull off even better performances with the Astralis squad.
Meanwhile, cajunb is moving to Dignitas to fill out the spot left by Kjaerbye. Cajunb will be familiar with the organisation, given that the Astralis squad that he was part of played under their brand throughout 2014.
In a post on the Astralis website, Kjaerbye says of the move: "It feels amazing joining Astralis. I'm very excited but even more confident that it is a good fit for both the team and me, and I feel ready for the challenge. Joining Astralis is a dream for every Danish cs player, as it's not only the best team in Denmark, but a brand competing for big international titles, which perfectly suits my mindset and goals for the long term future."
The change comes with a catch for Astralis, though: Since Kjaerbye played in the recent EU Minor with Dignitas, he'll be barred from playing with Astralis at the ESL One Cologne Major championship in July. The team will have to field a stand-in at that event. As for other tournaments, Kjaerbye can join the squad immediately.
Kjaerbye, seen here during DreamHack Masters Malmö, is leaving Dignitas and joining Astralis.