Astralis Captain Cites Reasons for Failure at IEM Cologne Major 2026

Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen stated that after their victory in the opening match of the second stage of the IEM Cologne Major 2026 against GamerLegion, his team's players were never able to get into a rhythm for quality gameplay.

The Astralis captain made this statement in an interview with HLTV.

“I feel like after the match against GamerLegion, we just couldn’t find our rhythm. It just didn’t feel like things were going the way they should. It was very hard to play. It seemed like for every round we won, we had to literally fight with all our might, while our opponents were constantly getting two or three easy rounds. It felt like if we lost just one player, everything would fall apart immediately. When it feels like you have to give 100% for every single round, while your opponent just ‘gets’ their rounds, it’s really tough. I don’t even know.”

According to Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen, his team had to fight for victory in every round, while their opponents had it relatively easy. The esports player admitted that it was quite difficult for him to cope with Astralis’ losses at the IEM Cologne Major 2026.

It’s worth noting that the team started their run at the IEM Cologne Major 2026 in the second stage and left the tournament with one win and three losses.

As a reminder, Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen previously commented on Astralis’s loss in the grand final of the PGL Bucharest Counter-Strike 2 tournament.