Astralis invited to Elisa Masters Espoo

The Danish side are the lastest team to accept an invite for the $200,000 Finnish LAN.

Elisa Esports have announced Astralis as the fifth team to have been invited to attend Elisa Masters Espoo 2022, joining the likes of fnatic, ENCE, and BIG in Espoo, Finland just a few days after the conclusion of the IEM Rio Major.

Three more invited teams are left to be revealed, with three additional ones qualifying through Elisa events to bring the number of squads up to 12.

Elisa Masters Espoo will take place between November 16-20, boasting a $200,000 prize pool and a direct invite for the Play-In Stage of IEM Katowice 2023 thanks to its affiliation with the ESL Pro Tour.

Astralis are the latest team to be invited to Elisa Masters Espoo

HEET are so far the only team to have qualified for the tournament thank to their top finish at Elisa Invitational Spring 2022, with three more squads set to attend the event through their placings at various Elisa competitions.

The ongoing Elisa Invitational Fall will provide two teams with qualifying spots while another unannounced event will grant the last entry to Masters Espoo.

Astralis could look very different by the time Elisa Masters Espoo rolls around due to the cascade of changes caused by the team's disappointing results and failure to qualify for the IEM Rio Major. The organization has already removed coach Martin "⁠trace⁠" Heldt and Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke from the starting lineup, and stated that more changes "on and around the team" will occur.

The team has been linked with a possible return of Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz while their hunt for a rifler has them reportedly interested in a move for Sprout's Victor "⁠Staehr⁠" Staehr, despite the German organization's opposition to the transfer.

Read more k0nfig and Astralis part ways

Astralis are currently ranked No.11 in the world, the second-highest at the event behind MOUZ, but it's likely their position will change significantly by November, with nothing on their calendar after the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown ahead of the Espoo event and more changes likely to come.

The teams attending Elisa Masters Espoo are now:

ENCE
MOUZ
fnatic
Invite
Invite
Invite HEET
BIG
Astralis
TBA
Elisa Invitational Fall
Elisa Invitational Fall Victor 'Staehr' Staehr Age: 18 Team: Sprout Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 303 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.67 Sprout #25 Ismail 'refrezh' AliFritz 'slaxz-' DietrichRasmus 'Zyphon' NordfossVictor 'Staehr' StaehrLaurențiu 'lauNX' Țârlea Astralis #11 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderAsger 'Farlig' JensenBenjamin 'blameF' BremerMikkel 'MistR' Thomsen Kristian 'k0nfig' Wienecke Age: 25 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 1593 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.69 MOUZ #8 Christopher 'dexter' NongDavid 'frozen' ČerňanskýJon 'JDC' de CastroÁdám 'torzsi' TorzsásDorian 'xertioN' Berman Nicolai 'device' Reedtz Age: 27 Team: Ninjas in PyjamasB Rating 1.0: 1.16 Maps played: 1787 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.62 Martin 'trace' Heldt Age: 32 Team: AstralisB Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 125 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.65 fnatic #18 Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonDion 'FASHR' DerksenNico 'nicoodoz' TamjidiFredrik 'roeJ' JørgensenWilliam 'mezii' Merriman HEET #30 Audric 'JACKZ' JugAlexandre 'bodyy' PianaroThomas 'Djoko' PavoniPierre 'Ex3rcice' BulingeAurélien 'afro' Drapier BIG #17 Johannes 'tabseN' WodarzFlorian 'syrsoN' RischeNils 'k1to' GruhneJosef 'faveN' BaumannKarim 'Krimbo' Moussa ENCE #16 Marco 'Snappi' PfeifferValdemar 'valde' Bjørn VangsåPavle 'Maden' BoškovićPaweł 'dycha' DychaÁlvaro 'SunPayus' García