dev1ce:<\/strong> It’\u0099s been really enjoyable, obviously a bit tough, but enjoyable. You have to put in a lot of hours to get back to a decent individual level, and it’\u0099s a fun challenge; it’\u0099s fun to be with familiar faces and in Denmark as well. <\/p>\nIt’\u0099s been fun, and the journey is, for me, the most important thing to enjoy the journey and to have fun while you’\u0099re grinding; otherwise, you focus too much on the trophies and the wins, and it becomes a bit stale. Even though it’\u0099s been tough, I find it fun.<\/p>\n
BLIX: <\/em><\/strong>Was it an easy decision when Astralis came to you with an offer or did you have a bit of a think because I’\u0099m sure you had a lot of offers? Was it the easy choice when Astralis came in and said, ‘\u009cHey, can we get you’\u009d?<\/em><\/p>\ndev1ce:<\/strong> I mean, the question wasn’\u0099t which team. I kinda knew I wanted to go to Astralis; it was more or less for me when I was ready to go back; did I want to go back to CS competitively? What goals do I have with CS? Because there were also a lot of other options outside of CS.<\/p>\n I think when Astralis came, and I felt ready, and I knew that was what I wanted to do, it happened. But for me, it was also a process of learning to myself better and wanting to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.<\/p>\n
BLIX: <\/strong>Do you think that Astralis is the same now compared to when you left, or have there been any changes that you’\u0099re surprised by right now when you come back?<\/em><\/p>\ndev1ce:<\/strong> I mean, the team is not the same. There are a few changes there, playing with blameF and now Buzz as well, so that’\u0099s a difference. Other than that, I think the general view on Astralis probably changed a bit, the team’s perception. When we were playing teams back then, people were always a bit.. not afraid, but they at least had some respect.<\/p>\nI think now that people have seen that the team has lost a lot of games against teams that they wouldn’t normally do, maybe there’\u0099s a bit less of that, and that’\u0099s just how it is in the sport. It changes quickly, and it’\u0099s just our job to get back to the level we want to be at.<\/p>\n
![\"dev1ce](\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/ca906bf24e782ae4.png\")
dev1ce at IEM Chicago | Image: Copyright ESL | Helena Kristiansson<\/span><\/div>\nBLIX:<\/strong> HUNDEN was recently announced as the new analyst. How’\u0099s it been so far working with him?<\/em><\/p>\ndev1ce:<\/strong> HUNDEN is actually a big surprise for me. I’\u0099ve known him since Source since I was 12; I think how he’\u0099s really smart in CS and really good at teaching. For me, it’\u0099s been the first time in probably five years that I feel I’\u0099m learning something every day since he joined, so that’\u0099s something that’\u0099s totally new to me and really nice. I think he works hard and just wants to prove that he belongs in the scene, and he’\u0099s creating a lot of value for us in the team.<\/p>\nBLIX:<\/strong> What would you say makes him valuable, and how do you feel he differs from other coaches and analysts you have previously worked with?<\/em><\/p>\ndev1ce:<\/strong> I mean, he has a good CS mind; he compares a little bit to zonic in that regard, they think a lot of new stuff, and they kind of see the meta before it shifts and all that, so I think in that regard he creates a lot of value, and he has a lot of experience as well as a coach. <\/p>\nI think you see in many teams right now you’\u0099re changing coaches that come with a little bit less experience, but they’\u0099re maybe more hungry. I think he’\u0099s also experienced and hungry, and working as an analyst for us, he’\u0099s just really good at providing valuable information and not too much; too much information sometimes in a CS player’\u0099s head can become overwhelming because you have new opponents all the time, so it’\u0099s more or less creating the right amount of valuable information, I think he’\u0099s really good at that.<\/p>\n
BLIX: <\/strong>Do you think his past is affecting the team somehow? We all know the whole scandal with Heroic and everything. Does it have an effect on the team knowing what he did before?<\/em><\/p>\ndev1ce:<\/strong> I mean, it definitely doesn’\u0099t have an effect on the team, but maybe on the global CS:GO perception of the organization, it might have an impact. I’\u0099m not too involved with social media, actually. <\/p>\nThe whole fuss there, so I’\u0099m pretty sure things have been a little crazy, but for us in the team, we’\u0099re just focused on the human he is and the values he comes with. For me, he’\u0099s a really good person, and I have nothing bad to say, so I’\u0099d rather make my opinions of people when I meet them rather than just the public opinion.<\/p>\n
BLIX: <\/strong>Were you and your teammates involved in the decision, or is it more the org that says, ‘\u009chey, HUNDEN is free, let’\u0099s take him, let’\u0099s bring him in’\u009d?<\/em><\/p>\ndev1ce:<\/strong> I think it’\u0099s not the players; at least I was not involved, and I’\u0099m pretty sure none of the other players were involved. When we brought in Buzz, I played a lot of FACEIT with him, so Casper, our sports director, asked me a little bit about him, but he didn’\u0099t ask me, ‘\u009cshould we get him?’\u009d. Maybe the same happened with HUNDEN and other guys who knew him better. I didn’\u0099t know him at all, so’\u00a6<\/p>\nBLIX:<\/strong> How’\u0099s it been so far with Buzz? What can we expect to see from him in the future, this is his first event, so maybe there’\u0099s not much. What can he bring to the table, and what can everyone else expect from him in the future?<\/em><\/p>\ndev1ce: <\/strong>I really believe in Buzz; I think he’\u0099s good. I don’\u0099t think you can set a limit on what he can achieve. He can be one of the best players in the world in his role for me, so that’\u0099s what I kind of expect from him. It’\u0099s going to take some time, but I really do think he has the right mentality and talent, so if you mix that, it’\u0099s a good mixture. I’\u0099m just excited to be playing with him.<\/p>\nBLIX: <\/strong>How’\u0099s the practice been like coming into the event? Obviously, there were the holidays, but how has it been afterward? What did you guys do?<\/em><\/p>\ndev1ce:<\/strong> So, we worked on setting some goals and creating an identity for the team in-game and out of the server, how we want to treat each other, and all of that. Other than that, we’\u0099ve been working on the server and shaping our map pool since Anubis is in there, so that’\u0099s like the work. Practice has been going good. It’\u0099s always up and down because you’\u0099re testing stuff out. I would say we’\u0099re pretty ok on most maps and pretty happy with the level we’\u0099re bringing for the tournament.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/8a2d583efa4f3441.png\")
Image: Copyright ESL | Stephanie Lindgren<\/span><\/div>\nBLIX: <\/strong>You guys will start against Vitality with your old teammates zonic, dupreeh, and Magisk. You’\u0099ve obviously played against them in NiP, but do you still have that rivalry, maybe even more intense now that you’\u0099re in Astralis and with your current teammates in Xyp9x and gla1ve?<\/em><\/p>\ndev1ce:<\/strong> I try not to focus too much about who we’\u0099re playing against, but yeah, it’\u0099s gonna be fun, and for me, it’\u0099s also just my first match back, so there’\u0099s a lot of things to think about before I have to worry about all of that stuff. So no, not really. <\/p>\nI look forward to seeing them because it’\u0099s been a year since I’\u0099ve seen them all, and it’\u0099s really nice to see so many familiar faces. But when we’\u0099re playing, I don’\u0099t bring 10% extra if it’\u0099s Heroic, Vitality, NAVI, or whoever it is. It’\u0099s just another game, and you have to be 100% focused and use all of your energy no matter what. And yeah, obviously, I hope we can win.<\/p>\n
BLIX: <\/strong>As I mentioned before, you’\u0099ve been away for quite some time from the competition and have been pretty quiet on social media. What do you think we can expect from you in the game? What do you think you’\u0099ll be able to bring to the table?<\/p>\ndev1ce:<\/strong> I mean, in my first tournament here, I’\u0099m just gonna take it pretty slowly, I know that my individual level is good enough, it’\u0099s where I want it to be, so it’\u0099s about controlling the nerves and expectations a little bit, and for myself, I’\u0099m just trying not to lower them too much but not expect something wondrous as well. <\/p>\nSo I’\u0099m just gonna take it one match at a time, and I’\u0099m gonna do the same stuff that I’\u0099ve been doing in practice, and that’\u0099s been good, so hopefully, I just hit my shots, and that’\u0099s how it is as the AWPer.<\/p>\n
Cover image credit: Copyright ESL | Stephanie Lindgren<\/em><\/p>\nMake sure to follow BLIX.GG<\/a> to stay up to date with all the esports news!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In this 2 part article, we sat down with Astralis’ dev1ce to talk about his return to competing in LAN and rejoining Astralis. Check back tomorrow for part 2! Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: You’\u0099ve had a long break from LAN competition. How are you keeping yourself in shape? Nicolai ‘\u009c dev1ce’\u009d Reedtz: I’\u0099ve been<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":10652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10651","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cs-2"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}