dev1ce clutches a round by replicating s1mple's AWP decoy on Dust 2

Fariha Bhatti Published 27/03/2021

Astralis continues its stellar win streak against Team Liquid as the team bags its first win in ESL Pro League with Nicolai “device” Reedtz as the hero.

The Danish AWPer entered the server with a well-oiled Sniper that helped him drop 76 kills across two maps. While he displayed impeccable performance loaded with aces and clutches, his AWP decoy stood out as it refreshed Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev’s original fake throw against Team Liquid.

Team Liquid has been struggling to comprehend Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander’s schemes that have helped Astralis maintain a winning streak. While Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo led roster looked like it had a motive to win, device hit them with the classic s1mple strategy that earned NaVi a round against Team Liquid on Dust 2 in 2016.

Team Liquid’s hard push in B was erratic, powerful, and unstoppable. Emil “Magisk” Reif and Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen managed to take down two players, but Team Liquid had site control. device and Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth stood weak-kneed against Terrorists, guarding the bomb. device managed to get one kill from B-window, swinging the momentum in Astralis’ favor, but Xyp9x’s death put him in an odd spot with an AWP.

The Danish AWPer took the challenge and committed to the clutch. In a one versus two situation, dev1ce shut down Jacky “Stewie2K” Yip in a quick AWP flick. With the bomb ticking down, he had no option but to either save the weapon or jump on Keith “NAF” Markovic. The AWPer took a creative route, tossed his gun through doors as a decoy and quickly shot down NAF with his USP-S.

I wonder who you learned this one from? @dev1ce… ????#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/vXVUffdtzw
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) March 26, 2021

The strategy was effective, with a confused NAF fell prey to dev1ce’s pistol. After that round, the Danes became unstoppable, bagging rounds till they appeared on top. dev1ce pulled the game to overtime with an incredible ace, bringing his team closer to the victory. His ace and 39 kills on Dust 2 helped Astralis maintain their power over Team Liquid and win the game in a 2-0 fashion.

Is dev1ce the best CSGO player in 2020?

With an incredible average rating of 1.17, dev1ce secured the third spot as the best player on the HLTV top 20 lists in 2020. Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut was ranked as number one, followed by NaVi’s AWPer s1mple. The list wasn’t much different from 2019 rankings, where the same three AWPers appeared as the top players.

Fariha Bhatti

About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

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