blameF: I think k0nfig and I will bring in some fresh and needed energy to Astralis
We caught up with Benjamin “blameF” Bremer as he and his squad are in full preparations for BLAST Premier Fall Finals.
There is under 24 hours before the BLAST Premier Fall Final event kicks off in Copenhagen. A $425,000 prize pool is up for grabs and the winner of the event will earn a spot at the World Final in December where $1,000,000 will be on the line.
After some disappointing results and a 12-14th place elimination at PGL Major Stockholm, Astralis announced the addition of former Complexity duo Benjamin “blameF” Bremer and Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke to their lineup on November 4 in place of Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen and Emil “Magisk” Reif, while Alexander “ave” Holdt took over as the new head coach instead of Danny “zonic” Sørensen.
With an opening match against Ninjas in Pyjamas on the horizon at the BLAST Premier Fall Finals event in Copenhagen, we sat down with Astralis’ Benjamin “blameF” Bremer to talk about his expectations for the new roster, a fully packed Royal Arena, his new role, and much more.
You have just joined Astralis, one of the biggest Counter-Strike teams in the world. How is it playing for such a big team?
I think it’s amazing so far. I’ve received a warm welcome from the team and the entire organization, even a lot of fans have been writing to me saying they are going to cheer for us in Astralis as well. So, that’s just amazing. So far, it’s been very great.
People talk a lot about those ‘honeymoon’ periods, but we’ll see what is going to happen.
Astralis also brought in k0nfig. Was it something that meant a lot for you to get k0nfig on the same team as you?
Definitely. I told k0nfig very early at Complexity that I would like to play with him forever because he’s the best teammate I’ve ever had probably. In the sense that his attitude is straight, his individual skills are probably one of the highest in the world, and the way his playstyle works it’s just very aggressive and creates a lot of space for other teammates. It’s just a nice player to play with and I told Astralis as well, that if they want to have me in the lineup, they should consider bringing in k0nfig too because he’s going to make me want to join even more.
Can you try to explain what you and k0nfig as a duo bring to the table at Astralis?
I think we bring a lot of attitude. Maybe the old roster was going into some old habits or something like that. Maybe they needed a bit of fresh energy and I think that’s what we’re coming with. And then, of course, we bring some firepower. They also had a lot of firepower in the old roster as well with Magisk and dupreeh, who are really talented players. But I think me and k0nfig are two Danish players who can equalize on that or maybe even elevate as well.
How have the first weeks been with the team? Has it been tough to adapt to new strategies, different playstyles, and fit into a new team?
I think the toughest part for me right now is that I’m still thinking a lot as an IGL when stuff happens on the server. I immediately think what we should do as a team. I need to stop thinking like that and start to reflect on what I’m going to do as an individual. That’s been the toughest part for me so far.
I feel like I’m pretty good at remembering all the strats. I’m always writing everything down and studying them at night. So, I don’t think that’s too much of a problem. Maybe it’s been a little rough to learn all the new spot names they have on the maps because we obviously had a lot of other spot names in English at Complexity.
You said it yourself, you’re not the IGL anymore. Which role will you take on at Astralis?
Hopefully, I’m going to shoot some people in the head and be a better individual player than I was before. I don’t think it is as black and white at Astralis that you have a specific role kind of thing, I feel like I’m one of the riflers who is going to create some space for the team and I feel like I have some okay roles to make opportunities for the team on the server. So, that’s what I’m going to try and do.
You and Astralis are going up against NiP in your first matchup here at BLAST Finals. What do you expect from that matchup?
I think it’s hard to say what we expect because we haven’t played any officials. So obviously, we don’t know how well we can play yet. We haven’t had that much time to practice, but I think we have a great team and the opportunity to make an upset. I believe it’s okay for us to have big expectations because I think we can do well, but we’re also okay with not doing well. I would be all right with them beating us as they have had more time as a team than us, but I do believe the potential is there for an upset.
At the event, you will play at home soil in front of a fully packed Royal Arena. It’s that something you’ve been looking forward to?
Yeah, for sure. I think playing in front of a home crowd is a big thing in and with 12.000 people in the Arena, it’s going to be an amazing experience. So yes, I’m looking very forward to it.
blameF and the rest of Astralis will be taking upon Ninjas in Pyjamas on Wednesday at 21:00 (CET). You can follow all the matches from the BLAST Premier Fall Finals event right here on Pley.gg. Make sure you don't miss out!
