TOP 20 PLAYERS OF 2019: DEVICE (3)
Nicolai "device" Reedtz comes in third in our top 20 players ranking, powered by Xtrfy and LOOT.BET, thanks to great numbers put up consistently at some of the biggest tournaments of 2019.
Top 20 players of 2019: Introduction
device started attending CS:Source LANs as a teenager, making the rounds in the Danish scene and playing well enough to attract the attention of Copenhagen Wolves. It wouldn’t be until CS:GO, however, that device truly started to make a name for himself as a potential top tier player in Denmark. At the start of 2013, after some time in lesser teams, device joined Henrik "FeTiSh" Christensen in CPH Wolves, in which he would go on to meet the two players with whom he would establish the core of Astralis, Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen and Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth.
Other priorities in life, such as school and playing badminton at a high level, kept device on the sidelines for a few months — although he didn’t stop playing Counter-Strike and was still seen in mix-teams —, but it didn’t take long for him to settle back in with FeTiSh and company. The young Dane posted a 1.14 LAN rating in 2013, but, having just played at a small number of events and without ever going past the quarter-finals, he was not in contention for a spot in the top 20 list, the only year in which he has failed to make the cut.
"I don’t think you can put a date and a time to when Counter-Strike became a priority, but with injuries in badminton and my progress in CS, it was a development that came naturally to me quite early. I’ve always been committed to what I do, when I do it, so it is more a matter of how much time I spend on one thing, in this case CS. When you start winning and people start talking about you in positive terms, you tend to seek the feeling of accomplishment—that goes for me as well. It’s a positive circle as you start doing more of what you’re good at, which makes you do better and at some point, that’s what you do."
The team signed for Dignitas in 2014 and started to get more and more international recognition as a stable attendee at some of the biggest events at the time, but deep runs at tournaments still eluded the Danes. Great performances turned into a struggle once the matches got serious in the playoffs and it didn’t matter where they were playing or who they faced: Dignitas could not make it past the semi-finals as the team’s star players tended to disappear under the limelight. That year saw device make the HLTV top 20 for the first time, albeit by the skin of his teeth, with his big match performances being what held him back the most.
The new year brought with it a big change as in-game leader FeTiSh was pulled out of the starting lineup and Finn "karrigan" Andersen was brought in to take the reins of the team. The second big change followed soon afterward when the Danes left Dignitas and joined TSM. Under a new leadership in the server, device and dupreeh shone more than ever, helping the team win three events in a row, CCS Kick-off Season Finals, FACEIT League Stage 1 Finals and Fragbite Masters Season 4 Finals, and two more later in the year, FACEIT League 2015 Stage 2 and PGL Season 1 Finals. It was then that device made his first big splash individually, jumping all the way to third place in 2015's top 20 player of the year ranking.
“There are a lot of factors and a lot of people who deserve credit for the way we developed as players but also as individuals. karrigan’s role should not be underestimated, and he gave me a lot. His passion and sense of the game at that time was something that affected everybody he played with, and it certainly gave us more room to do what we do best. That being said, both dupreeh and I were at a stage in our development where we constantly kept on pushing ourselves. No doubt we have a special connection and common feel for the game, and I am not sure I’d be the same player without Peter beside me at an early age. But again, there are many people who could be on that list…”
Another new year brought another set of challenges and device was thrown a curveball in 2016 when René "cajunb" Borg was removed from the lineup of the newly minted Astralis. As a lurker who sometimes picked up the AWP, device was now thrust into the role full-time, which required a period of adaptation and refinement to a new set of skills as he became the team’s main sniper when they signed another rifler, Markus "Kjaerbye" Kjærbye. Astralis’ struggles became apparent as they dipped well below what was expected of them after breaking out as a world-class team and another change was made when Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander took over the in-game leadership from karrigan, helping the squad make second place at ELEAGUE Season 2 and lift their only trophy of the year in Anaheim at the ECS Season 2 Finals. Despite Astralis' shaky results in 2016, device showed he was up to the task and that he could be a superstar with the AWP as well as with rifles as he finished every tournament with +1 ratings to earn another third place in an HLTV top 20 ranking.
The addition of gla1ve straightened Astralis back out and they carried their good form into the new year, winning the ELEAGUE Major in Atlanta and IEM Katowice 2017, but device would once again have to jump over a hurdle when diagnosed with a hiatal hernia—a stress-induced condition in the stomach causing severe acid reflux—that demanded immediate attention. Astralis didn’t win anything other than the $250,000 Clash for Cash showmatch put on by ELEAGUE until the end of the year and had to play several events with stand-ins as device took a leave of absence to get his health back in order ahead of 2018. Despite the obstacles, device had solid numbers throughout the year, with the exception of his last event, IEM Oakland, where he had to be rushed to the hospital, and was named the fifth-best player of 2017.
device was able to return to the servers promptly in 2018 and went on a historic year-long run with Astralis, who brought in Emil "Magisk" Reif after flunking out of ELEAGUE Major Boston. They won ten tournaments, including the FACEIT Major and four ntel Grand Slam eligible events (DreamHack Masters Marseille, ESL Pro League Season 7 Finals, IEM Chicago and ESL Pro League Season 8 Finals) to secure the $1 million prize. Astralis changed the meta inside and outside the server that year, with RFRSH pouring more and more resources into a team that was revolutionizing the way the game is played. But even with seven MVPs under his belt, including one at the FACEIT Major, and a 1.24 LAN rating, device still finished second in that year's top 20 ranking as the top honour went to Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev after the Ukrainian hit peak levels never witnessed before.
“You can’t fully comprehend what you’re a part of while you’re in it. I don’t really focus on what I’ve achieved that way or the magnitude of what I and we do. That might all come later, I guess. What I do know is how much I hated not being a part of the team in late ‘18, when I was out for a period of time. I know how much it means to me to contribute and to help my teammates, and that feeling might have been amplified by not being there for what felt like forever. It did give me an opportunity to appreciate other things in life, though, and I think it’s something that we have developed on the team as well. The mental balance, the ability to focus on other things in life and be there for the people who are close to you. It also adds to your hunger when you are back with the boys.”
“First of all, all teams and players take inspiration from others. It’s not a one way street, where everybody’s copying us or trying to figure us out. We constantly get inspired by other teams and my way of playing is certainly also inspired by some of the great players out there. That being said, there is no doubt that our results and the fact that we talk openly about how we work with performance inside and outside the game means that a lot of teams, organizations and players look at how we do things. That’s cool. It keeps us on edge and helps us to keep pushing."
Astralis attended iBUYPOWERS Masters 2019, a turbulent event that kicked the year off ahead of the IEM Katowice Major. The Danes were upset by Liquid at the event in Los Angeles for the first time after having dominated them during the whole of 2018, but not much was made of the Medium Event as the first Major of 2019 was right around the corner. device earned his first EVP and was fourth in the running for MVP in Katowice, where he ended with a 1.32 rating, a 1.40 impact and a 75.5% KAST in his team’s first-place run. It looked like the Danes were on track to repeat 2018 all over again as they dropped only one map during the whole tournament in Poland, crushing all opposition in the playoffs.
BLAST Pro Series São Paulo came next and Astralis lifted another trophy after taking revenge against Liquid in the grand final. The Danes once again showed their superiority, dropping but one map at the event, and device was granted his first MVP of the year thanks to a 1.35 rating and 1.47 impact rating. Another BLAST Pro Series event followed, this time in Miami, but the commanding team seen in 2018 and at the first Big Events of 2019 was nowhere to be found. Astralis lost three out of the five group stage best-of-ones and were out of the event, the only one in 2019 which device ended in the red (0.94). The third in a succession of BLAST Pro Series events ensued when the team traveled to Madrid after securing a spot at the ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals. Astralis managed to make the final in the Spanish capital, where device earned an EVP mention thanks to a 1.23 rating, but they faltered in the two-map grand final against ENCE.
“[Miami was the most challenging moment of 2019], we were simply tired and it was an awful feeling. We were completely drained as a team and as players, and I started caring less. I think it was the same for all players, but we dealt with it as a team and with the amazing support from the people around us."
Astralis returned to more classical tournament structures at ECS and ESL’s flagship events, the ECS Season 7 Finals and the ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals, before ending the first half of the year at ESL One Cologne. The Danes struggled to find their old form, however, as FURIA ended their run in the ECS group stage, with wins in the opener and decider, while Liquid, who by then were hogging the spotlight, took them out in the quarter-finals at the EPL finals in France. At ESL One Cologne it was Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut and company who ended Astralis' run in the semi-finals. device had particularly good numbers in London, scoring a 1.37 rating and 92.5 ADR, followed by a 1.25 rating in Montpellier and 1.13 in Cologne—the latter being the only one of the three where he wasn't named an EVP.
"[The last tournaments before the break were] the same as with Miami, we needed to recharge, refocus and get a healthy approach to everything. It’s extremely tough to keep on developing, keep the motivation and hunger at 100 percent when you’ve been there for a while. All of a sudden a loss in a final is called a failure even though you beat every opponent but one, and when you get to a point where you are not at 100%, there are so many great teams out there ready to take your spot. We are here for the long run, and if we need to change something to stay on top—or to get back—we will."
After the summer break, Astralis came back in full force at the StarLadder Major in Berlin. Despite losing a group stage match to NRG, the Danes went on a tear in the playoffs and didn’t drop a single map en route to the title, beating every team they came across, including then-No.1 Liquid, in convincing fashion. With a year-high seven 1vsX situations won, 1.26 rating (1.47 in the playoffs), 83.3 ADR and 1.37 impact, device was awarded the MVP medal of the tournament.
“We gave ourselves room and re-focussed as a team with the organization around us. We talk about it a lot, but I honestly do believe we have the strongest foundation of any Counter-Strike organisation or any esports organization in general. It would have been so much harder to make the right decisions and to get back on top if we had to do it alone.
“[Skipping events at the beginning of the year] is the main reason for us coming back in full force, and it was the healthy choice for everybody on the team."
Following the Major win Astralis traveled to Brooklyn for ESL One New York, where they reached the final, once again beating Liquid, before losing to a burgeoning Evil Geniuses, the team that had beaten them at the Major while still under NRG. device had a discreet 1.08 rating and his only negative playoff rating of the year, 0.93. DreamHack Masters Malmö followed straight after, with the team leaving New York the night of the final to make it in time to play in Sweden, where they finished in 3-4th place losing to the eventual champions, fnatic. device had his second-highest tournament rating of the year (1.42), a 92.5 ADR and a 1.63 impact to earn another EVP mention.
BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen then rolled around, an elusive tournament for the Danes, who had failed to make the final in the previous two years. In 2019 it was no different as losses to FaZe and NiP, and a tie against Natus Vincere forced the Danes to watch from the sidelines as the grand final was played in front of their own fans. On an individual level, device had his highest ADR of the year, just shy of 94, and a solid 1.19 rating.
After their fourth and last regular BLAST Pro Series stop of the year came IEM Beijing, Astralis’ first tournament on Chinese soil. Entering the final sprint of the year, the Danes once again kicked it into top gear and came out on top. device had his highest rating of the year in Beijing, 1.43, in addition to an 89.3 ADR and a 1.56 impact rating, but he had to settle for an EVP as gla1ve bagged the MVP award. Astralis followed their victory up with another trophy, this time in Arlington, Texas, at the ECS Season 8 Finals. They beat fnatic, Evil Geniuses and Liquid on their way to the title, with device winning his third - and last MVP - medal of 2019 after posting a 1.27 rating and a 0.79 KPR, keeping his perfect streak of MVP honours from the ECS tournaments won by his team.
Astralis then won their group at the ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals with another victory over Liquid that cemented their status as the best team in the world. The Danish squad slipped against a rising mousesports in the semi-final, however, and device ended the tournament with a 1.05 rating and 67.6 ADR, his lowest numbers since Miami. Astralis went on to close the year out in fashion, winning the BLAST Pro Series Global Finals in Bahrain with two series wins against Liquid and one against NiP, never dropping a map. Fourth in the MVP race with a 1.20 rating, device was given his seventh and last EVP mention of the year.
"We have a solid organization around us that keep on promoting new ways to support our development as a team and as individuals. 2019 was probably the year in which we got the most heat for doing things differently when we started prioritizing tournaments hard. It was something we knew we would be doing but fatigue and lack of results meant we had to find a new way to re-energize. We took a lot of heat, which is what it is, but in the end we saw other teams doing the same and ultimately I think it contributed to a renewed focus on health and stress among players. If we have something to do with that, I’m pretty happy about it.
"If new formats give more structure and time for teams to prepare and plan, it is all good. Everything new can be seen as a test, but once a decision is made in regards to a tournament, our job is to focus on how we get the best out of it. More structure would be healthy."
Why was device the 3rd best player of 2019?
Just like the other members of this year's 'big four club', made up of the four players who were a level above everyone else in 2019, device was incredibly consistent and had remarkable peaks and a great impact inside the server. His overall fragging (0.77 KPR, fifth-highest) and ability to get multi-kills (19.5% of rounds, sixth-best) were excellent, but what really made him stand out as an impactful player (1.29 Impact, the fourth-best) was his opening duel prowess: he boasted the fifth-highest opening kills ratio (0.13 per round) and the fourth-highest success rate (61.5%). device was also one of the hardest players to kill with 0.60 deaths per round, the eighth-lowest overall. All of that helped him average a 1.22 rating in 2019 —the third highest in the world.
More importantly, those great numbers were a result of standout performances at some of the biggest tournaments on the calendar. He won an MVP medal at the StarLadder Berlin Major and was also in the running at IEM Katowice. He collected two more MVP awards at BLAST Pro Series São Paulo and ECS Season 8 Finals, which increased his career tally to 15, the most of all players, and had strong EVP performances at IEM Beijing, DreamHack Masters Malmö and BLAST Pro Series Global Final.
Although device did have a few events where he was less successful in big matches, he made up for it at other times, eventually averaging a 1.19 rating in big event playoffs (fourth-highest), which increased to 1.23 in the grand finals (second-best). A poor display at BLAST Pro Series Miami was a small stain on his 2019 résumé, but even with that accounted for, he was one of the most consistent players, ending the year with 78.2% of maps with above-average ratings (fourth-most) and with at the very least a Valuable Player selection at 14 of his 15 events. All of that put him in contention for the very top spot, but two other players were even slightly more impressive.