Led by an exceptional performance from Benjamin "blameF" Bremer, the three-time Major champions kept their dreams of a fourth title alive in a match that delivered intense moments for Counter-Strike fans. Fnatic began the series in dominant fashion, taking control on 

, their map pick. Their coordinated plays and superior strategies allowed them to comfortably secure the map and set the tone for the series.

Inferno brought a twist to the match as ECLOT rallied with a strong T-side performance. Despite Fnatic’s efforts, the Czech team narrowly edged out a victory, claiming the map 13-11 and forcing a decider on Nuke.

The decider map, Nuke, turned into an epic showdown. Fnatic appeared to be on the brink of victory with a 12-9 lead but faltered at the finish line, giving ECLOT the chance to equalize. ECLOT capitalized with a last-second defuse in the 24th round, pushing the map into overtime.

In regulation, blameF was the only Fnatic player to maintain a positive kill-death ratio, raising concerns as the match moved into overtime. ECLOT surged ahead during the first half of overtime with a stellar CT side, taking a 15-12 lead and placing Fnatic under immense pressure.

Despite the odds, Fnatic showcased their resilience. They clawed their way back in the second half, fending off three match points from ECLOT to secure a hard-fought victory in overtime.

Fnatic’s triumph not only guarantees their place at the Shanghai Major but also affects BetBoom’s journey. BetBoom must now face the winner of SINNERS vs. GamerLegion in a high-stakes battle for the final ticket from Group A of the European RMR.

Fnatic’s qualification underscores their championship pedigree, and their dramatic victory over ECLOT sets the stage for an exciting Major campaign later this month.

blameF

Fnatic

One of the highest-rated Danish CS2 players, Benjamin "blameF" Bremer has found himself a new home after Fnatic announced the acquisition of the former Astralis player last night on Twitter.

- Bringing Benjamin into Fnatic is a significant move that indicates our ambition to return to the top echelons of competitive Counter-Strike. Benjamin is a franchise-level player whose impact goes beyond just his in-game ability. This acquisition marks a significant shift from our approach over the last few years, emphasising our commitment to not only participate but return to meaningful competition. Benjamin's consistent top-tier performance and leadership experience offered an opportunity to energise our roster and signal our intentions to the market, Ross Rooney, Esports Analysis & Strategy Manager from Fnatic states in the announcement on Fnatic’s website.

Can “Kyuubii” Ali will be moved to the bench to make place for Benjamin "blameF" Bremer, who will be the secondary caller on the team according to team manager Andreas "Samuelsson" Samuelsson, who gave an update about the roles on Fnatic on Discord.

- Hello team. We are super proud of announcing Blame to the team! Just to clarify the roles, Blame will play the star positions as a second voice. Bodyy will call and Krimz will play the anchor roles, Samuelsson stated.

Fnatic will play their first match with the new roster on Friday at CCT Global Finals 2024 against ENCE.

Astralis

It’s a new Day 1 for Astralis. Another one. Kasper Straube, Astralis’ Sport Director since last summer, joins us on a Google Meet call the first day of work for the new iteration of the Astralis CS2 team. Alexander "br0" Bro and Casper "ruggah" Due are the two new faces on the team sheet for the Danish Organization that has struggled to find back to the winning formula that ignited the organization into stardom at the tail end of the 2010s. 

While 2024 started great for the Danes by securing a ticket to the BLAST Spring Finals in London, the situation quickly became dire with a bad showing at IEM Katowice and then the failed qualification for the Major in Copenhagen on home turf. A bitter pill to swallow for both Astralis and the Danish fans who had looked forward to seeing the new “superteam” defending the Danish colors at the Royal Arena.

But what went wrong at the European RMR tournament? We asked the Director of Sports at Astralis, Kasper Straube, who pointed out right away, that the team had taken a hit in Katowice with the early exit, but that the mental side of the game was not the only area, where Astralis was having problems.

- Counter-Strike-wise, the team has faced challenges due to inadequacies on a technical and tactical level. We have lacked the necessary solutions and tools to handle the situations properly. I truly acknowledge the mental side of it as well, but to me, it is more a question of the CS foundation we had built being too narrow.

- With the quality we have on the team, we should have succeeded at the RMR nonetheless. We have all failed in and around the sporting setup. We have failed on various levels. For me, it is a collective responsibility, Kasper Straube, Sports Director of Astralis, states.

A few minutes after it had become a fact, that Astralis were not going to participate in the first Danish Major in history, Victor "Staehr" Staehr appeared on PGL’s livestream to do an interview about the failed qualification. Nobody remembers what the youngest member of the Astralis roster really said, but the fact that it was him, and not the most experienced player on the team Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz or the in-game leader Benjamin "blameF" Bremer that stood up for the team in the perhaps darkest hour of Astralis’ history was shocking to the CS Community.

Was it a lack of leadership to not realize the importance of doing the first interview after the disastrous match against 9Pandas?

In an ideal world I would have liked the interview to be done by one of the older or more experienced players such as device or blameF. But when there is a guy coming into the room with a microphone asking to do an interview, and a young guy like Staehr steps up to the plate and says “I will do that”, I can only respect that, and I know he has earned a lot of respect from everyone in Astralis for doing that, Kasper Straube says.

- The speculations about if they one after another declined to do the interview, and it ended up being Staehr because he was the last one, is not how I have been told everything came down. It was a very young man who took a very, very big responsibility in a spontaneous act, at least that is what I have been told. I think it says an awful lot about Victor "Staehr" Staehr, and nothing about the others.

- It's important to me that I know that when it's at another time when it's not so fun, I know someone else will step up for Staehr, Kasper Straube adds.

You can see a part of the interview with Staehr here.

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The decision to terminate the contract of head coach Peter "casle" Ardenskjold shortly before the end of 2023 and not have a replacement immediately lined up to be able to guide the team through the European RMR tournament seemed somewhat off of what we usually expect from Astralis. The 23-year-old Assistant Coach, Mathias "R0nic" Pinholt, was tasked with the job of trying to support the roster as much as he could on the server, while the sporting setup around the team also chipped in to try and prepare the team as much as possible.

Without going into details about the potential candidates for the vacant job as head coach for Astralis, Kasper Straube revealed that it was a calculated risk they took, when they decided to let Peter "casle" Ardenskjold go.

- The expectation was certainly that we would have a coach in place for the RMR. But the calculation was also made at the time that there was also a scenario where we did not have a coach in place. It all came down to the fact, that we thought in any case that it was the best solution for the team to say goodbye to “casle”.

Directly asked if it would have made a difference to have an experienced coach like Casper "ruggah" Due with the team at the RMR, Straube answered.

- Having "ruggah" with us in Romania could have made a difference to the RMR, if this was not the case there is no chance, we would have signed him. Nobody would hire a coach who would not make a difference at tournaments.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"ruggah_l0vzwq","originalWidth":6000,"originalHeight":4000,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

Casper "ruggah" Due did take part in the RMR but as a coach for OG

The question remains why it was so urgent for Astralis to replace Peter "casle" Ardenskjold right before one of the most important couple of months for the organization, who desperately wanted to represent their country on its home turf at the Major.

- It has nothing to do with whether “casle” is a good or bad coach, but an expression of the fact that we needed something else around the team and that we had an expectation that we could get a coach in much earlier than we now have done, Straube explains before pointing out the key areas, where he expects Casper "ruggah" Due to have more impact on the team as a coach.

- It's more about setting some overall framework for how we want to play, making sure to implement the inputs that the players bring, and then of course making it fit together. It is one of the things I have seen as a strength in Casper "ruggah" Due, that he manages to set some structure and take the responsibility to ask the right questions and follow up on things in everyday life. It’s definitely something we have been missing both in 2024 but also before.

When speaking with Kasper Straube it becomes very clear, that one of the problems on Astralis has been the roles on the team. Directly asked if the economy played a part in the benching of Benjamin "blameF" Bremer, Straube unequivocally denied that the decision was made due to lack of finances but more about the roles on the team.

- You are absolutely correct that missing the Majors is a significant setback. For us, it marks the third occurrence, emphasizing the challenging nature of the situation. The decision to part ways with Benjamin "blameF" Bremer or bring in Alexander "br0" Bro is not driven by financial incentives or constraints. Rather, it is solely based on our desire for roles to align and a unified philosophy in our approach. Straube shared these insights during a call from the Astralis office in Copenhagen where a couple of the many trophies that Astralis won in their glory days pops up in the background. Trophies that will remind the new team that assembled for the first time this very day, what Astralis’ legacy in CS:GO was, and where Astralis wants them to go in CS2.

First up though they will have to watch the Copenhagen Major from the sideline.

Tomorrow, in the second part of our interview with Kasper Straube, you can hear much more about the reasons why Benjamin "blameF" Bremer was benched, Alexander "br0" Bro’s role on the team, and why Astralis did not chose to go with the classic type of the self-sacrificing in-game leader, as we see on several of the highest-ranked teams in the world at the moment.

ruggah

Staehr

With Benjamin "blameF" Bremer’s benching yesterday, the role of an in-game leader was vacant for Astralis. Most people had expected that Astralis would pick up one of the many experienced Danish in-game leaders, but instead, the Danish organization chose another route selecting their AWP’er Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz as the new IGL.

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- I've always been the secondary caller and right-hand man for both Lukas and Benja, so when there was a change underway, it naturally came up in the team if I could see myself taking the lead as IGL. It's obviously a very different role to be the IGL with more responsibility both on and off the server, but it's a good time for me to go this way. I also see it as an opportunity to do even more of what I love most in the world, playing CS at the highest level for much longer, Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz stated in a press release from Astralis.

In Counter-Strike today we already have several AWP’ers as in-game leaders. Casper 'cadiaN' Møller and Dzhami "Jame" Ali are some of the most successful in the business. Being an IGL can also prolong an otherwise short career, which Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz also mentions as a good reason for him to step up to the role.

- It motivates me insanely because I don't just intend to continue this for a couple of years – it's my lifelong dream to play CS! Stepping into a new chapter in my career really excites me, and it's a role I see myself in for many years to come.  The hardest thing for me is to ask Astralis fans for patience because they have really been patient for the past 3 years. That's also why I'm fully committed, and although it's new, it's also in many ways a continuation of my own development.

Astralis will start the practice with the new setup on Friday, where their new fifth player Alexander "br0" Bro will join the team alongside their new coach Casper "ruggah" Due.

device

In 2020, when we launched Pley.gg, Astralis was on the top of the world. They had won three Majors in a row, and was the team to beat in the world of CS:GO. That feels like almost an eternity ago now.

Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz was the first to leave the magical core, but is now the only player left from the golden days of Astralis. In the 2024 edition of the team, Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz is surrounded by some of Denmark’s most promising talents and players that have proved themselves on other teams in the past. So why can’t they perform, when it matters the most?

The current edition of Astralis is the strongest of the many different iterations of Astralis since their last Major win. There is a lot of firepower on the team, who had four players ranked among the 20 best players of 2023 according to HLTV. Oddly enough it is the only player not on the list, Victor "Staehr" Staehr, that has made the strongest impression in the past month at IEM Katowice and at the RMR.

So, who is the player, that makes everyone else better? That sacrifices himself, who opens up bombsites, or throws the perfect flashes? Often, we see the in-game leader being proactive.

(Filter: Last month) – Top 5 teams’ IGL’s on HLTV’s world ranking

So, it’s clearly not Benjamin "blameF" Bremer, who is setting his teammates up for success at Astralis. But there are other ways to play Counter-Strike. The best example is Dzhami "Jame" Ali, who has had lots of success playing passively with his AWP, while though setting his teammates up with minimum one flash per round.

On Astralis it is Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard that throws most flashes, while the opening attempts are very evenly distributed. Compared to the 2019 version of the team, it is obvious that the roles were clearer with Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander and Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth supporting the team with flashes, while Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander, Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz, and Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen made most attempts to get the opening kill.

Astralis are right now playing some of the most important matches in recent times without a coach. At the end of 2023, the Danish organization chose to part ways with Peter "casle" Ardenskjold, but had no replacement lined up to overtake the duties. 23-year-old Mathias "R0nic" Pinholt has taken the role as an interim coach until Casper "ruggah" Due is free of his duties with OG.

In reality Astralis has not had a long-lasting coach since Danny "zonic" Sørensen departed the team in 2021. Looking from the outside the coaching role in professional Counter-Strike is probably one of the roles on a team, where there is most space for improvements. Danny "zonic" Sørensen has defined the coaching role for many years now without any real competition that can match his knowledge of the game, his understanding of the importance of team chemistry, and the ability to win big events.

Our guess is that most of the Counter-Strike teams in the world are eagerly awaiting experienced in-game leaders such as Finn "karrigan" Andersen, Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander, and Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo to retire and transition into a coaching career.

There is a huge job waiting Casper "ruggah" Due, when he takes over the reins at Astralis. The OG coach has not been able to take OG anywhere since he joined the team in 2020.

The tweet from Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz sent shivers down the spine on most Astralis fans. The mental side of the game has been the perhaps most important part of Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz’s game since he returned from his break from competitive Counter-Strike. No one could be in doubt that Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz and Christian Møss "Buzz" Andersen had a great thing going on the team until Christian Møss "Buzz" Andersen were benched to make way for Martin "stavn" Lund and Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard.

After the benching of Christian Møss "Buzz" Andersen, Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz’s rating has taken a considerable dip.

There could obviously be multiple reasons behind the lack of impact on the server for Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz, but its worth noting, that it has often been things outside the server, that has caused issues for the Danish AWP’er, who continuously has proven his consistency on the server throughout the years. 

Astralis would usually make changes after two hugely disappointing tournaments such as IEM Katowice and the EU RMR. But they’ve just changed the roster in November. So, what are the next steps for Astralis? Casper "ruggah" Due and the rest of the Astralis backroom certainly has some work cut out for them.

gla1ve

Buzz

Day 1 of the new BLAST season gave a glimpse of what is to come in 2024. Most notable was the very one-sided victory for Astralis against Falcons. Danny "zonic" Sørensen's men lost their map pick of Vertigo after a poor start on their CT-side. On Ancient Falcons never really got started and was kicked out of the server with a stunning 13-3 loss. Nicolai 'device' Reedtz did not even need to perform at his usual high level with several of his teammates delivering superbly on the server. Victor 'Staehr' Staehr left a good impression on Ancient, while Benjamin 'blameF' Bremer was a constant threat and nuisance to a shaky playing Falcons.

In the same group, Team Vitality started the year with a 13-0 win on Mirage against OG. The humiliation continued for a while on Inferno, before OG finally turned up on the server and won some rounds to deliver a respectable result losing 13-7. Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut left the server with a 1-68 rating to start the year on a very high note.

In Group C, G2 destroyed Ninjas in Pyjamas 13-7, 13-2 on Vertigo and Anubis. It was not a good sight for the many Swedish Counter-Strike fans who could however rejoice themselves in the fact, that the only Swede on the NIP roster was the only player who delivered a good match for the Ninjas, as Fredrik 'REZ' Sterner went 25-25 in K-D. On the other side of the server Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov did his best to live up to the praise of Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač that he got in an interview with Pley.gg before the event. The Russian AWP'er went 43-12 in K-D during the 35 rounds it took G2 to finish off NIP on the two maps. 

The most interesting matchup in Group C was without a doubt the clash between NAVI and Complexity. Here NAVI managed to win Overpass 16-14 and could seal the win on their map pick of Anubis. Complexity fought back and had an 8-4 lead after the first half, but then everything fell apart. The Ukrainian duo Valeriy 'b1t' Vakhovskiy and Ihor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov smashed the defense of Complexity with the latter going 9-0! in K-D during the second half that NAVI won 9-0 to win the match.

Results of Day 1 from BLAST Premier Spring Groups:

The winners and losers face each other today, where the losers of the lower bracket will have to go through the Spring Showdown tournament to book a ticket to the Spring Finals in London later this year.

14.30: NIP - Complexity (Elimination match)

Team Vitality

Natus Vincere

G2 Esports

The PGL Copenhagen Major is the perhaps most important tournament for Astralis in recent history. The Danish Counter-Strike powerhouse has experienced a couple of years with lackluster results since the breakup of the legendary core, that secured the Danes four Major titles.

But since the addition of Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard and Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund the Danes are once again reaching for the stars with a lineup where four out of the five players have been named among the best 20 players of the past year on HLTV's top 20 rankings (blameF #16, jabbi #15, device #11, and stavn #9).

Astralis starts their journey toward the Major on home turf with the closed qualifiers starting in 10 days. Here the Danes can count on an in-game leader in top form. Benjamin "blameF" Bremer has spent part of Christmas grinding FACEIT matches with 120 games being played since the player break started. 

Below you can find the [link:{"url":"https://faceitstats.com/leaderboards/elo","isNewTab":true,"text":"top 10 players of FACEIT"}] right now. Wellknown players such as Owen "smooya" Butterfield, Danil "donk" Kryshkovets, and Lotan "Spinx" Giladi are ranked at the top of the list.

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2023 was the year where CS:GO was replaced by CS2 during the year, that otherwise were dominated by teams such as Team Vitality, FaZe, and G2.

Player-wise the story of the year was the decline of Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyljev, who ended the year by taking a pause from the game after the release of CS2. Despite a drop in performance from the Ukrainian, s1mple is still ranked in the top 10 players of the year. A testament to the insane levels that the NAVI players have shown in the past years.

Another revelation of 2023 was the emergence of the 16-year-old Danil "donk" Kryshkovets. In the summer of 2023, donk was promoted to the first team of Team Spirit, and has since been dominating CS2. 2024 looks promising for the Russian roster, who got Dmitriy "sh1ro" Sokolov onboard at the end of the year. With two players in the top 3 of the best-performing players of 2023, Team Spirit will have high hopes for the new year.

Highest-rated players of 2023 (Ranking Filter: Top 30 teams - min. 50 maps played):

1. {cflag:FR} Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut (Team Vitality) - 1.30 rating (133 maps) +829 K-D difference

2. {cflag:RU} Danil "donk" Kryshkovets (Team Spirit) - 1.29 rating (82 maps) +372 K-D difference

3. {cflag:RU} Dmitriy "sh1ro" Sokolov (Cloud9/Team Spirit) - 1.22 rating (135 maps) +777 K-D difference

4. {cflag:DK} Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz (Astralis) - 1.21 rating (130 maps) +582 K-D difference

5. {cflag:TR} İsmailсan "XANTARES" Dörtkardeş (Eternal Fire) - 1.20 rating (109 maps) +238 K-D difference

6. {cflag:DK} Benjamin "blameF" Bremer (Astralis) - 1.19 rating (130 maps) +480 K-D difference

7. {cflag:SK} David "frozen" Čerňanský (MOUZ/FaZe) - 1.19 rating (127 maps) +464 K-D difference

8. {cflag:BA} Nikola "NiKo" Kovač (G2) - 1.18 rating (129 maps) +359 K-D difference

9. {cflag:RU} Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov (G2) - 1.18 rating (129 maps) +498 K-D difference

10. {cflag:UA} Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyljev (NAVI) - 1.17 rating (105 maps) +401 K-D difference

Also rated 1.17 in 2023: KSCERATO, Spinx, Jame, deko

Team Vitality was the highest-rated team during 2023 with a 1.11 rating, with Virtus.pro, Natus Vincere, FaZe, Heroic, Monte, and Astralis being the closest competitors rating-wise.

ZywOo

donk

sh1ro

XANTARES

frozen

NiKo

m0NESY

s1mple

Astralis and Benjamin "blameF" Bremer will continue their work together that started at the end of 2021, where blameF and Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke joined Astralis to replace  Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen and Emil "Magisk" Reif.

Since then Astralis has undergone several changes, but Benjamin "blameF" Bremer is still left standing as one of the pillars of Astralis. The former Complexity player also took over the responsibility as in-game leader after the legendary IGL Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander was benched during the summer.

- Benjamin has proven his potential and is becoming a strong, modern leader who sets his own clear direction while also being good at listening and involving his teammates. His dedication and collaboration with the team's other natural leader, Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz, has been extremely important to the rebuilding of the team, and I am extremely happy about this extension, Sports Director Kasper Straube says in a press statement.

Benjamin "blameF" Bremer has averaged an impressive 1.23 rating since he joined Astralis almost two years ago. The 26-year-old Dane is happy to have extended his contract and pinpoints Straube as one of the key parts of the new Astralis setup.

- Today, Astralis is where I most want to be and the team I most want to be a part of. We are in a really exciting process, and I am developing as a player. Astralis has done a lot of right things over the years, and there are many who should be given credit for what the team has achieved. It is never about one person, but with Kasper Straube, we feel re-energized, and together with all those who work hard every single day for us to succeed, his approach to performance has had a great significance for me.

- I have been an in-game leader before, but never in a place where I can lean on such skilled and experienced people on and off the team. It gives me a better opportunity to help my teammates and there is nothing in the world I want more than to help lead Astralis towards becoming the very best. It requires time and patience, but this is what I spend all my energy on, and this is what I will work for every single day until we achieve it, Benjamin "blameF" Bremer says.

Next task for blameF and Astralis is at the playoff stage at ESL Pro League Season 18 in Malta next week.

Yesterday’s news linking Sprout’s Victor "Staehr" Staehr to Astralis has sparked speculations about who the 18-year-old Dane is set to replace on the current Astralis roster (if any?).

While the rumors have not yet been confirmed, the former Astralis player and now analyst Lucas "Bubzkji" Andersen went on Twitter with his take on the situation.

In a reply to Jacob "Pimp" Winneche, Bubzkji furthermore explained why he thinks the signing of Staehr would indicate, that Astralis are not looking to replace one of the two former academy players currently on the team, Alexander "Altekz" Givskov and Christian Møss "Buzz" Andersen.

The tweet from Bubzkji was quickly quoted by fellow analyst Alex "Mauisnake" Ellenberg citing the tweet as a sign of the public discourse going from “role-agnostic to role-pilled”.

In a follow-up tweet Mauisnake underlined, that the move of replacing blameF with Staehr would only make sense to cut costs.

Astralis with gla1ve, blameF, Altekz, Buzz, and device on the team plays their quarter-final at IEM Dallas tonight at 20.30 (CET) against MOUZ.

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Bubzkji

At the online tournament Brazy Party 2023, Astralis started off strong with a 2-0 victory against GamerLegion.

The match was the first for Alexander 'Altekz' Givskov, who delivered an impressive debut for the Danes. Altekz was moved up to the main roster 10 days ago to replace Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth. The 19-year-old Dane could hardly have dreamt about getting a better start than a 1.41 rating on Ancient, where Astralis blew GamerLegion off the server with a 9-1 start before they finished the job at 16-8.

Vertigo was almost copy-paste with Astralis going 7-0 up before GamerLegion finally found some momentum. Again Alexander 'Altekz' Givskov proved his worth with several multi-kill rounds. Also worth noting was the aggressiveness of Benjamin 'blameF' Bremer who seemed a bit more inclined to try and take initiative for the Danes in the early parts of the rounds.

Astralis won both maps 16-8 to set themselves up for a match against the winner of ENCE and SAW on Saturday, while GamerLegion will face the loser.

Astralis - GamerLegion 2-0 | Brazy Party 2023

MVP:  {cflag:DK} Benjamin 'blameF' Bremer - 1.42 rating / 41-26 K-D / 86.6 ADR

Altekz

GamerLegion

Ever since Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz made his comeback to competitive play in December last year for Astralis, a new superstar duo in Counter-Strike saw the light of day.

Together with his new teammate and hard-hitting rifler Benjamin “blameF” Bremer, dev1ce has managed to shape up an extremely strong partnership. 

- I like devve [dev1ce] a lot, blameF said to us and continued to explain their relationship on the server:

- He takes a lot of initiative on the server and brings a lot of ideas on how we should do certain things. I think me and him are a good match when it comes to finding a balance and giving each other space - now that we are holding a lot of positions together. Obviously, we as a team have to play around him a lot to make sure he's set up as the star player who makes a difference, and ensure that he's feeling comfortable with the most important gun in the game. 

Top 5 highest-rated duos since dev1ce’s comeback

1. {cflag:BA} NiKo and {cflag:RU} m0NESY (G2) | 1.23 rating / 1.19 rating

2. {cflag:DK} blameF and {cflag:DK} dev1ce (Astralis) | 1.25 rating / 1.16 rating

3. {cflag:TR} XANTARES and {cflag:TR} Calyx (Eternal Fire) | 1.24 rating / 1.15 rating

4. {cflag:CA} Twistzz and {cflag:LV} broky (FaZe) | 1.22 rating / 1.14 rating

5. {cflag:RU} Jame and {cflag:RU} fame (Outsiders) | 1.18 rating / 1.10 rating

We spoke with dev1ce earlier this year about this new superstar duo, where the AWPer stated that the two of them will achieve ‘really great things together’. Something blameF is ready to agree on.  

-Yeah, I hope I can achieve great things with devve. He’s a great guy both in and out of the server and I do believe he will become one of the best AWPers in the game again in the near future. So, if I can keep up my form as a rifler we have a good chance of winning some tournaments together eventually, blameF stated. 

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Question: Are you surprised that dev1ce has played so good and that he's managed to keep up with the best since his coming back?

blameF: - Not really. From the first day he came into the team he has been very hard working, always putting in extra time after our official practice, and he has been very good at progressing every day in his spots. 

What is something you have learned from dev1ce ever since he joined the team? Could be both off and on the server.

- He values the social aspect of the team a lot, and I think he’s been great at building friendships with all the players from the team including the ones he didn't play with before. He is an awesome team player, knows everybody here, and has been a vital part of the good chemistry from the beginning.

Can you try to put some words on your role in this Astralis system? 

- I am more aggressive now in my new roles on T-sides. Usually, I'm one of the guys running in first on set strats - in defaults I'm the one taking map control, so in those rounds, I'm usually also one of the guys creating space for my teammates. On the CT sides not much have changed besides a couple of roles, but nothing major.

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Astralis anno. 2023 - Image credit: Astralis

Despite losing their own map pick, Astralis still managed to take down Ninjas in Pyjamas in the first match of the day at BLAST Spring Groups.

The two teams faced each other in the single elimination bracket, where the winner advance to the second round of the knockout stage, where a spot at the Spring Finals in Washington, D.C. is at stake.

Initially, it was NIP and especially Fredrik 'REZ' Sterner who controlled the match. On Overpass the Swedes quickly distanced themselves from their Danish counterparts and won the map in a comfortable style. But on their own map pick of Mirage, NIP lost all momentum. The entire Astralis roster came alive and demolished NIP from the server.

A confident Danish side continued on Ancient, where they won an impressive eight T-rounds before closing out the match 16-10.

MVP: {cflag:DK} Benjamin 'blameF' Bremer - 1.39 rating / 73-54 K-D / 104.6 ADR

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz is back in Astralis after leaving the very same organization back in April 2021. But it wasn’t the same, old and familiar faces who welcomed the superstar AWPer when he arrived back on the ship three months ago.

One of two new teammates is the hard-hitting Benjamin “blameF” Bremer, who seems to be a guy dev1ce have created a strong bond with already both on and off the server.

- It’s always like when you join a new team and there’s a guy who’s really good and with a big personality, you wonder how much space does he take on the map. But I think we have found a really, really good rhythm in a really fast way, which I didn’t expect to go this fast, dev1ce said about blameF and continued.

- We work a lot together also outside of the server and we play a lot of spots together. We have a lot of fun as well and that’s really important – it’s a big pleasure for me to play with him and I think we can achieve really great things together.

Astralis players and their stats since dev1ce joined in October:

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We asked dev1ce if he felt any similar vibes with blameF as he did when playing with his long-lasting teammate Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen, who’s now playing for Team Vitality.

- I mean like me and dupreeh had a different relationship, we knew each other for so long and played together for almost a decade. It’s not like the same whereas I think our ceiling is higher – but I also think the friendship and the memories have to grow, so I wouldn’t compare them really.

- It’s a little bit comparable in game. blameF plays a little bit differently than dupreeh, but as I said our ceiling is actually higher with blameF, dev1ce said to us.

You can find the entire interview with dev1ce in the video below. Here the former NIP profile also touches on his own individual level going into the new season, gla1ve's development and much more. 

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Astralis has struggled during the 2022 season. The world class team found it hard to find the right core going forward. Despite a tough year for the danish team, they still managed to secure themselves second place at both BLAST Premier Spring Showdown and BLAST Premier Fall Showdown Europe 2022. With many roster chances and coach swifts, Astralis has finally found a core after the arrival of device who came back oct. 2022 last year. The Danes recently signed their newest edition Christian "Buzz" Andersen who is only 19 years old and full of talent. Astralis can now look forward to 2023 as a year with the hope of returning to the elite.

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blameF, on the other hand, was been the rock in Astralis' tough year. When things seemed impossible, the 25-year-old rifle took things into his own hands and secure the Danes some great victories. With the core finally being completed, blameF can look forward to some stability. 

I'm looking forward to some stability in the team. We had so many changes both players, staff and coaches in 2022, it was a bit confusing - blameF said to [link:{"url":"https://www.hltv.org/news/35340/top-20-players-of-2022-blamef-12","isNewTab":true,"text":"HLTV"}]. 

blameF stood out as the main man on the Astralis roster and has also been awarded for his great performances, a top 20 players award. The Danish rifler got crowned as the 12th best Counter-Strike player of 2022. 

Astralis´s Device and BlameF take on Anubis in MM. 

The two superstars showcase how you should play Anubis in MatchMaking. Despite Device and BlameF trolling the two Astralis players won the game 16-4. 

Watch the two superstars troll globals in Matchmaking right here:

Who has stood out in 2022 as the best individual player? Follow Pley.gg in the coming days, where we go in-depth with all the maps and celebrate the most versatile player of the year.

In this list, you will find the best 10 players of Inferno. A spot as number 1 gives you 10 points for the overall ranking, where we combine the seven most-played maps of the year to find the most versatile player. Here we celebrate the ability to perform well on different maps.

We have used the following metrics in our ranking:

HLTV rating vs top 30 teams in all matches in 2022 with a minimum of 10 maps played.

Most versatile player of the year: (Inferno)

stavn

With the qualification for IEM Katowice still in question for Astralis, a deep run at CCT Central Europe Series 4 could be the deciding factor for the Danes.

According to [link:{"url":"https://www.dust2.us/news/32753/an-na-cash-cup-could-kick-astralis-out-of-katowice","isNewTab":true,"text":"Dust2.us"}], the Danes are under heavy pressure from Evil Geniuses and paiN Gaming who are farming points in the North American Cash Cup tournaments to secure enough points to surpass Astralis. The roster change of Nicolai " dev1ce " Reedtz has undoubtedly improved the Danes on the server, but not in the rankings, where the removal of Asger "farlig" Jensen has catapulted Astralis down in the danger zone.

So, back to the CCT Central Europe Series 4 match between Astralis and 1WIN. Here the pressure was on the Danes to perform with everything written above in mind. It started grim for the Danes who could not get started on Mirage. Benjamin 'blameF' Bremer was on his usual level, but especially Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz had difficulties against the CIS team, who utilized a double AWP setup on their CT to near perfection. 1WIN won 16-7 on Astralis' map pick before moving on to Ancient.

Here Benjamin 'blameF' Bremer dropped 37 kills! during the 28 rounds, it took Astralis to win the map. Mikkel 'MistR' Thomsen also chipped in with a great performance, while device once again had issues being impactful. But then device stepped up. On Nuke the Danish AWP'er was unstoppable going 28-14 in K-D to help his team secure the match and important points for the Katowice race. 

Astralis is now ready for the Semi-Finals at CCT Central Europe Series 4, where they will take on Apeks. In the other Semi-Final, it is HAVU going up against Copenhagen Flames. The matches will be played today at 14.00 (CET) and 17.00 (CET) with Astralis playing the late match.

While the best teams of the year compete at BLAST World Finals, Astralis is preparing for the next season by participating in the CCT Central Europe Series 4.

Here Astralis received a direct invitation to the playoffs alongside teams such as BIG, forZe, and GamerLegion. In their Round of 16 match, Astralis was matched with their countrymen from ECSTATIC. On Mirage and Ancient, it was two very good T-sides that paved the way for Astralis for a 16-10, 16-9 win. 

Top fragger was once again Benjamin "blameF" Bremer, while Mikkel 'MistR' Thomsen also played a solid match for the Danes.

[twitchClip:ClearCrazyKittenFloof-LYzrwR6u28U4yqAV]

In the Quarter-Final Astralis will face the winner of 1WIN vs HONORIS.

MistR

BLAST will once again honor the best CS:GO players and coaches by selecting the 2022 Team of the Year.

Taking part in the vote is a diverse selection of experts consisting of journalists, broadcast talent, and other respected voices from the world of Counter-Strike. We here at Pley.gg are among those who have been asked to nominate players and coaches within six different categories.

{cflag:EE} Robin “ropz” Kool (FaZe) - 1.14 rating in 2022 

ropz has been an important part of the huge year for FaZe. The Estonian joined the team in January and quickly proved to be the last part of the puzzle to elevate FaZe to a championship team. ropz has been one of the most consistent players all year around. 

{cflag:DK} Benjamin "blameF" Bremer (Astralis) - 1.24 rating in 2022

blameF has been one of the bright spots on a struggling Astralis roster. The Dane has consistently been the top-fragger for Astralis, and has at least statistically been one of the best players in the world in 2022. 

{cflag:IL} Lotan "Spinx" Giladi (ENCE/Team Vitality) - 1.11 rating in 2022

As one of the biggest revelations of 2022, it quickly became obvious to everybody, that ENCE would have difficulties keeping Spinx on the team with Team Vitality knocking on the door. The 22-year-old would probably be among the favorites for the award if he had kept up the impressive performances from the start of the year. But during the Rio RMR and at the Major the Israelian had problems finding his feet on his new team.

	30 days	90 days
Fixture count	0	0
Maps count	0	0

blameF

Player stats

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Fnatic sign blameF in new blockbuster move

Astralis Sports Director after disaster RMR: We have all failed in and around the sporting setup

device on IGL role: It motivates me insanely

What went wrong with Astralis? (2024 edition)

BLAST season kicked off with one-sided victories in Copenhagen

blameF is the highest ranked CS2 player on FACEIT

Highest rated players of 2023

Astralis extends contract with blameF

Bubzkji: it would make most sense if Staehr replaced either blameF or gla1ve

Altekz deliver impressive debut in Astralis win

blameF on dev1ce: We have to play around him a lot to make him feel comfortable

Astralis win Scandinavian battle against NIP

dev1ce on blameF partnership: We can achieve really great things together

blameF: We had so many changes both players, staff and coaches in 2022, it was a bit confusing

Video: Watch Astralis stars troll globals in Matchmaking

2022 review: This is the best Inferno player

blameF carry Astralis to Semi-Finals at CCT Central Europe Series 4

Astralis win comfortable victory against fellow Danes

Who is the best Lurker of the Year?

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