Dev1ce, who is one of the most legendary players of CSGO, hasn’t been active in pro play since December 2021, when he was representing the team Ninjas in Pyjamas. The Danish AWPer spent most of 2022 on medical leave, due to issues regarding his mental health before rejoining Astralis, the organization that saw him win four CS:GO Majors, in October. Due to Dev1ce spending so much time on the sidelines, a lot of people still have their doubts about if he’ll be able to ever go back to the level he showed from 2015 to 2021.
Surprisingly, Astralis decided to not field dev1ce at Elisa Masters Espoo, the first tournament the squad played since he came back, which only raised more questions on dev1ce’s current form. Kasper Hvidt, Astralis’ director of sports, mentioned before Elisa Masters Espoo that dev1ce is performing well and the team’s philosophy is “creating room for the best version of dev1ce we have seen.” Hvidt wasn’t the only one speaking in public regarding dev1ce’s form. Gla1ve, who is Astralis in-game leader, said he’s been doing well.
“We wanted him to play [at Elisa Masters Espoo], and I also think he’s holding back a bit because he has been out for nine months,” gla1ve said. “You need a slow start, especially with all the traveling we do.”
So from what we’ve heard so far, the reason why dev1ce didn’t play at Elisa Masters Espoo is that Astralis don’t want to rush his return to competitive play. After that, Dev1ce’s return to pro play was unclear since Astralis didn’t have any tournaments scheduled for the rest of 2022. But now with Astralis being invited to the CCT North Europe Series two playoffs in December 2022, the team said dev1ce will make his comeback in this online tournament.
This might be a very exciting moment not only for Astralis fans, but for every single CSGO spectator around the globe. If dev1ce is on top of his game like he was before his break, he’ll provide a gigantic firepower upgrade to Astralis in the CCT playoffs in comparison to Kristou, who replaced him at the Elisa Masters Espoo, or Farlig, who was Astralis’ sniper before dev1ce re-signed with the team.
When dev1ce took a break from playing professional CS:GO last year, he was one of the most impactful players in the whole scene. The 27-year-old player averaged a 1.19 rating on LAN during the 2021 season, according to HLTV, finishing just below the likes of b1t, electroNic, NiKo, ZywOo, and s1mple out of all the players from the top-20 teams.
Dev1ce will be playing alongside gla1ve, Xyp9x, blameF, and the academy player stand-in Mikkel ”MistR” Thomsen in his competitive return. The Danish squad will go up against teams such as OG, GamerLegion, and HEET in the CCT North Europe Series #2 playoffs, which are set to kick off on December 4, so make sure to stay tuned as we’ll be sharing our esports picks with you! Don’t forget to bet on esports at BetUS Sportsbook & Casino. We’ve plenty of CSGO odds for you to consider.
