YNK says Astralis should hire Xyp9x as head coach

The agonizingly slow downfall of Astralis has led to yet another change of leadership with Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen coming on to replace the benched Casper “cadiaN” Møller. But one of the game's most well known analysts says the Danish organization should also make a coaching change.

Long-time analyst Janko "YNk" Paunović commented on the latest Astralis move today, saying the cadiaN signing "should have never happened," and saying that HooXi was "a better fit." YNk was also critical of the now released Astralis sports director Kasper Straube, calling his removal "the best news Astralis fans got in a long time."

YNk has also offered Astralis a suggestion for their next change: "calling [Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth] and offering him the head coaching job."

The four time Major winner dubbed the "clutch minister" was part of the Astralis roster core during its dynasty days, but remained with the organization through March 2024. At that point, he transitioned to coaching, taking an assistant coaching job with MOUZ where he's remained since. Within months of arriving, he helped coach the team to a second straight ESL Pro League title, and just a couple months ago lifted another trophy at PGL Cluj-Napoca.

Just this past month, Xyp9x stood in for MOUZ's head coach Dennis "⁠sycrone⁠" Nielsen at the BLAST Lisbon playoffs, coaching the team to victories against both G2 and Eternal Fire. Is that enough experience to justify a head coaching spot? Maybe, but if you're Astralis, it quite literally couldn't get any worse. Right?