ASTRA leaves Counter-Strike for Valorant

Mayline-Joy ‘ASTRA’ Champliaud, a French rifler, announced on X that she will leave Counter-Strike to compete in Valorant. She attributed the decision to the collapse of the women’s Counter-Strike scene and a limited tournament calendar.

Champliaud wrote that she had been missing regular practice and match play, and that fact influenced her decision. ‘I find myself missing practice and competition. Therefore, I made the decision to transition to Valorant and to put my focus into a growing scene,’ she wrote on X.

She set out her competitive aims in the post. ‘My goals are the same as in CS, I only want to compete for the top. This wasn’t an easy decision to make but I’m in a happy place, I’m very passionate and committed to what I set out to do and this is a challenge that I would love to take on,’ she added.

Champliaud led BIG EQUIPA to the ESL Impact League Season 8 title at the end of 2025 and won the Women’s Player of the Year award, while BIG EQUIPA was named Women’s Team of the Year. The ESL Impact circuit was put on hold at the end of 2025; several organizations released their female rosters and BIG EQUIPA paused its women’s project in May.

The announcement did not identify a new Valorant team or organization. Champliaud described the switch as a way to regain regular competition and to pursue top-level results in a scene she views as growing and offering more opportunities than the current state of women’s Counter-Strike.