French esports athlete Mayline-Joy "ASTRA" Champliaud, who was named the best player in the women's Counter-Strike scene for 2025, has decided to switch games. The 25-year-old player will continue her career in VALORANT, explaining her decision by pointing to the crisis in women's CS and a lack of tournament practice.
"Given the recent news about the decline of women's CS and the lack of upcoming tournaments, I feel that I'm missing practice and competition. Therefore, I decided to switch to VALORANT and focus on an expanding scene," stated ASTRA.
According to her, changing games does not mean changing her ambitions. The French player wants to continue fighting for victories, grow as a player, and create new moments in VALORANT.
ASTRA has nearly a decade of professional career experience under her belt. She has played for Bifrost Blue, GODSENT Female, LIVS, NIP Impact, Let Her Cook, NAVI Javelins, Prototype Blaze, Zerance, and BIG EQUIPA. Her main roles are AWPer and IGL.
Her time with NIP Impact was a particularly important stage. With ASTRA, the team won European ESL Impact Cash Cups and reached the final of the Gamers Without Borders Women Charity Invitational in 2023, where they fell to NAVI Javelins.
In 2025, ASTRA joined Prototype Blaze and later moved to Zerance. In August, she joined BIG EQUIPA and quickly helped the team reach a new level.
BIG EQUIPA won the ELITE FE Cup 6, took second place at the Female Pro League S1 Finals, and capped off the year by winning women's CS's premier title — ESL Impact League Season 8 — defeating MIBR fe in the grand final.
BIG EQUIPA's success was matched by individual recognition. On January 10, 2026, at the HLTV Awards, ASTRA received the Women's Player of the Year award for 2025, beating out Wiktoria "vicu" Janicka and Bruna "bizinha" Marvila.
Her performance with BIG EQUIPA was particularly impressive: despite holding the IGL role, ASTRA finished her stint with the team boasting an average rating of 1.20 and was BIG's highest-rated player at ELITE FE Cup 6 and the Female Pro League S1 Finals.
Thus, ASTRA leaves CS2 right at the peak of her career. Her transition looks not like the end of her story, but like an attempt to find a new challenge in a discipline where the women's competitive scene continues to grow.
For ASTRA, choosing VALORANT seems logical. Both games are built on a tactical shooter foundation, and the French player's years of experience as an IGL could become a key advantage. At the same time, she will have to adapt to agents, abilities, and a different round structure.
Therefore, ASTRA may be facing the most intriguing stage of her career. She moves to VALORANT not after a failed season, but right after winning HLTV's Women's Player of the Year award. Now, the only question is how quickly one of women's CS's strongest tactical minds can transfer her experience to a new discipline.
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