Astralis were pretty woeful in Cologne, so it’s no surprise they’re one of the first teams to have rumours break about them.

Their T sides were amongst the worst in Major history, so the rumours circulating suggest it will be HooXi and ruggah who lose their heads as the legendary organisation look to stop their decline after a strong start to the year.

Truthfully, we don’t know if it’s the right move. We won’t deny that cutting one of HooXi or ruggah wouldn’t hurt, leadership problems have been clear, but both at once? When there’s no clear replacement? It’s bold.

It’s also very easy to argue that ryu has proved he’s just not cut out for tier one within these roles, and jabbi is also prone to going missing, so perhaps we would’ve focussed our efforts there instead if we were the ones in charge.

When it comes to replacing HooXi, there’s nothing particularly obvious.

blameF would be a huge firepower upgrade, but if they still believe in Staehr as a star - you’ll notice we said “they”, not “we” there - then perhaps he’s not the captain you want to bring in.

Another option would be Chr1zN, but with HEROIC expected to make moves and also not being overly impressive in 2026 even with their roster troubles, his stocks are probably lower than they should be right now.

Beyond those two, the only option would be Magisk. He’s at the stage of his career where it’s right to make the transition to IGL, but we’re just not sure we’d throw away HooXi’s leadership for it.

No easy road ahead, and remaining middling is probably the likeliest outcome.

At least you got your four Majors, Astralis fans.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: I wrote this story and then they announced ruggah is gone but HooXi is not. I’ve been in Cologne for ten days. I’m not re-writing it. At least I got to mildly theorycraft for a move I’m not a big fan of. Silver linings and all that.]