CS:GO – Mr. Consistent: The History of dev1ce Pt. 1

One of the most decorated players in the history of the game, Nicolai Reedtz is a super-talented player that has led the golden, invincible Astralis team to Major glory 4 times, being the MVP in 2. But this time, he finds himself going against the Danish core. Amidst his quest to break his ex-team’s Major monopoly, let’s take a quick detour down his highly decorated career.

Early Days

Split between his badminton love and Counter-Strike love, the early teenage years of dev1ce were mired by folly and confusion. This second life caused him to be dropped by team after team before an injury decided that he would have to take up Counter-Strike.

In an on-and-off relationship with Copenhagen Wolves from CS Source to CS:GO, dev1ce found the diamonds he would go on to shine with in his career: Xyp9x and dupreeh. These three played for months and chiseled their chemistry. In CS:GO’s first Major, Copenhagen Wolves finished 5th-8th, an impressive rank considering the constant changes in the lineup the team was going through.

After contract complications with Copenhagen Wolves, the roster quit the organization and formed their own team: uber G33KZ. After a few months under that banner, the roster got picked up by Team Dignitas. The core of 3 remained the same, as Nico was replaced by cajunb. Two months from formation, Team Dignitas made an impressive run deep into the first 2014 Major. The 3rd-4th finish, after a loss to NiP, was another good sign for the roster’s core, but as time would prove it, 3rd-4th became a stagnating point for them.

In the second Major of 2014, it was a similar story. After another impressive run, dev1ce and co. reached the semis, where fnatic sent them packing. Days following the last Major, FeTiSh was replaced by karrigan as the IGL in an attempt to take the Danish core to the next level.

But soon, the year would come to an end, and in a mega economic move, Team Dignitas would move under the banner of Team SoloMid. Despite all the quarterfinal and semifinal exits, 2014 was a great, break-out year for dev1ce, as he ranked 20 on HLTV’s Best Players Of The Year list.

Team SoloMid Year

2015 started and the first Major came early, in March. In Katowice 2015, Team SoloMid’s quarterfinal curse continued, as a defeat to NiP forced them to pack their bags. But they quickly picked up steam, and before the second Major of the year, TSM had reached the grand final of five S-Tier tournaments and won six tournaments in total. TSM constantly bested the likes of NiP and fnatic.dev1ce amassed MVP after MVP, and TSM seemed absolutely ready for Cologne 2015.

After a strong Group Stage showing, where they humiliated NiP 16-3, TSM powered through the Quarterfinals and reached the semifinals in full-form. But the curse struck again, and TSM lost 2-1 to the French roster, EnVyUs. After 6 Grand Final appearances in just 2 months, TSM again entered the third and last Major of the year in full-form. But they faltered in the Quarterfinals stage against a revitalized NiP, who beat them 2-0 and sent them packing.

That was a real demoralizer for the Danes, and it didn’t take long before a poor showing of results preceded the departure of the roster in December. Despite poor results at times, dev1ce’s form and performances remained consistently outstanding, and that earned him his spot as HLTV’s 3rd Best Player of the Year. The roster temporarily played as “?” for a few months under new coach zonic, before being picked up by Astralis in January 2016. History was about to be created.

Early Astralis: Monsters in Making

Under karrigan and zonic, Astralis were expected to reach new heights in Danish CS history. But the year started off slow, and in the first Major of 2016, things went exactly how they used to be before. A good run deep into the Major, but yet another semifinal loss, this time to NaVi. With half the year gone and having won zero S-Tier tournament, it became apparent that changes were needed.

And that is when legendary IGL gla1ve came into the picture. His first tournament with Astralis was the second Major of 2016, replacing Kjearbye. It was yet another forgettable performance, where Astralis ended up with a 5th-8th place, partly because dupreeh had to quit the tournament midway due to health issues.

But there on, gla1ve, karrigan, and Kjearbye would shuffle through the team, and for the rest of the year, Astralis had a roster with constantly changing pieces. That is until October, Astralis officially sold karrigan, and gla1ve took over the Danish squad. They had two and a half months to tune into the perfect chemistry and climb out of one of their worst slumps, for there was the 2017 Major looming on the horizon, in January.

One of the key additions to their squad, apart from gla1ve, was their sports psychologist, Mia Stellberg. Mia was to work with the team to improve their mentality, confidence, and team spirits. This pioneering decision absolutely changed the Astralis squad, and results skyrocketed.

With promising signs, dev1ce and co. ended the year, with the star AWPer bagging another 3rd place finish in HLTV’s Player Of The Year list. Come the 2017 Major, an uncomfortable Group Stage pitted them against a potential Grand Final opponent in s1mple-led NaVi. But this time, Astralis had everything, and losing was not an option.

An otherworldly performance from dev1ce saw Astarlis defeating NaVi 2-1, and the spirits were as high as ever. The semi-final curse was broken against fnatic after another dominant dev1ce showing Astralis had finally reached the Grand Final of the Major, but against VP, dev1ce faltered. Luckily for the Danes, Kjearbye was present as their holy second-coming.

After sharing the spoils of the first two maps, Astralis found themselves in a 7-0 deficit in the final map, but their mental fortitude really showed where it mattered and with Kjearbye’s help, they picked up the pieces and won the map and the match. Astralis had finally won their long-due Major, and Kjearbye was presented the MVP.

2017 had started with a never-reached-before high, but their stint at the top would be short-lived. dev1ce’s hernia problems, amplified by stress, meant he attended fewer tournaments and that coupled with Kjearbye’s lackluster performances, Astralis had relegated into the unfortunate team they used to be.

2017’s second Major witnessed another Astralis’ semifinal exit and in 2018’s first Major, Astralis didn’t even make it out of Group Stage. Immediately after that Major, Kjearbye announced his departure and Magisk was chosen as the replacement. 2018 had started out bad, but things were about to change; a new ink color to write with in the history books.

Read on in Part 2 to witness the heights to which dev1ce and his team pulled the Danish squad to!