Stats show dev1ce and dupreeh carry Astralis while Magisk slumps

The loss of Astralis’ in-game leader and its best clutch player hasn’t dampened Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz’s incredibly consistent CSGO prowess. But the same can’t be said for some of his teammates.

Ever since their time together at Team SoloMid, Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen and dev1ce have been each other’s wingmen. Fans who are familiar enough with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s micro plays can catch the small details and see the fingerprints of a playstyle that has been developed over six years, hundreds of matches, and thousands of rounds. While the duo’s long-running tandem efforts are impressive, fans are getting to see just how strong of a role dev1ce has played, especially when both he and dupreeh have had to make up for clear weaknesses on the opposite side of the roster.

With the removal of Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander and Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth from the active roster and a recent report that neither would play at ESL One Cologne 2020, it’s worth the time to take a look into just how dev1ce, and to a lesser extent dupreeh, have kept up the numbers.

Breaking: gla1ve says he won’t play at ESL One Cologne.

• Read more about gla1ve’s surprising reveal that he and Xyp9x are listed as substitutes for the Astralis roster for the upcoming tournament right here. 

Despite Emil “Magisk” Reif’s uncharacteristically poor performances as he adjusts to two new site partners, dev1ce and dupreeh have managed to carry their stand-ins as well as they could have.

dev1ce and dupreeh keeping Astralis afloat ahead of ESL One Cologne 2020

The most interesting change to come alongside gla1ve and Xyp9x’s mental health break has been a marked shift in Astralis’ preferred map pool. gla1ve’s Astralis tended towards maps like Inferno and Vertigo, but it’s clear that Astralis needs all five of its members at full strength to be competitive on those maps. On Inferno, Astralis still owns a historic 92.9% map win rate after nabbing the first kill under gla1ve. That’s not something that the current Astralis roster can replicate, so the roster has had to find other ways to put up the best fight possible. 

Without its in-game leader, Astralis hasn’t played a single map of Inferno or Vertigo. But it has played more matches on Train than it did in the six months prior. That’s where dev1ce and dupreeh have shone. But it also comes with a clear caveat. Magisk has suffered greatly from losing his site partner in xyp9x. In the six maps Magisk has played without his long-time teammates, the rifler has posted a -19 kill-to-death differential and a 0.82 KD good for a .89 rating.

While dev1ce has continued his great run of form, dupreeh has taken a more passive role in Astralis’s matchups and has seen him post lower numbers than normal, but nothing that can’t be attributed to his site partner’s greatest assets. dev1ce’s ability to play around the AWP by taking both aggressive and passive fights have led to a three-month scoreline that isn’t much different at all to his average from 2019 and has taken some of the spotlight off of dupreeh while the long-time rifler still has room to impress from time to time.

While dupreeh’s numbers have dipped slightly, that’s is partially because the team is taking a more passive approach overall. As proof, dev1ce has fought to take an opening duel 13% less of the time on average when compared with his 2019 aggression. But with a solid 1.27 rating, dev1ce is holding Astralis together through sheer force of will and dupreeh’s steady backup. dupreeh’s lowered stats can be attributed to one more very important idea that ties Astralis’ map choices, and its AWPer’s excellent play together.

dev1ce isn’t just an AWPer, look for more rifle buys from Astralis at Cologne

There’s a reason why Astralis is playing maps like Train and Overpass, and its not for Astralis’ famed Overpass record from its TSM days. It’s because both maps are much easier to play when a team doesn’t have to play around an early-round AWP pick on the attacking side. After picking up the AWP at around 67% of the time on Astralis’ T sides in 2019, dev1ce’s usage of the sniper rifle has dropped ten percent to 57% since gla1ve and Xyp9x took their leaves. 

Ultimately, both dev1ce and dupreeh are still holding down sites like they always have, but dev1ce’s adjustments on the shuffled roster’s recent performances have at least kept the underpowered organization from dropping below an 11th place world ranking. Fans will get to see more of Astralis at the upcoming ESL One Cologne regional tournament, kicking off in Europe and North America on August 18.