'It's good to have nerves': Pro gamer Nicolai 'dev1ce' Reedtz on Counter-Strike tournament finals

Full disclaimer: I am so far removed from the world of e-sports that I understand the acronym “CS” to mean Cold Storage, the premier supermarket brand. Not Counter-Strike, the popular multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video game.

But what is journalism if not constantly diving into the deep end before learning to swim? Which is, I suppose, how I found myself speaking to professional CS player Nicolai Reedtz on Tuesday (Oct 29) ahead of the Blast Premier World Final.

The leading CS tournament, held at Resorts World Sentosa from Oct 30 to Nov 3, will see eight teams compete for the trophy and a slice of the US$1 million (S$1.32 million) prize pool. The winner gets US$500,000.

Among the competing teams are Reedtz’s team Astralis, current world ranking leader NAVI, defending champions Vitality, and other finalists G2 Esports, Team Spirit, FaZe Clan, Team Liquid and MOUZ.

Reedtz, better known as dev1ce, holds the role of AWPer in his team. He’s in charge of the Arctic Warfare Police one-shot kill sniper rifle – a dominating weapon in the game.

The 29-year-old Danish pro is widely regarded as one of the best players of all time, having won four majors in CS:GO (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive). Judging by his social media comments, this seems akin to winning four Olympic gold medals.

So I have no doubt Reedtz is brimming with strategic know-how to beat the competition and help Astralis return to pre-COVID domination. But I was more interested in the man behind the mouse.

After all, he’s been playing professionally for almost half his life at an age when many people have barely begun their career. Who is Reedtz when he isn’t dev1ce?

You’re the most experienced person in your team. You’ve won four majors and many trophies. Any nerves?

I think there are always nerves coming into a tournament. I think it’s good to have nerves.

Of course, we are also the lowest-ranked team here, so there's not that much pressure. But I think that you have to have some nerves going into a tournament, otherwise it doesn’t mean that much to you.

Who would you say is your biggest competitor here, and why?

I mean, obviously our first match is against NAVI. They’re the top seed here. They’re our biggest competition, because the first game always matters a lot.

For us, it’s just about getting out of the group stage.

To play the game, you must understand the way your teammates think and their behaviours. Are you as attuned to each other in real life?

Definitely a big part of building a solid team is getting to know each other, spending time outside the game.

I would say that even though we are a relatively new team playing together, we are quite close. A lot of the guys on the team have known each other for a long time.

It’s about getting to know each other outside the game, but also inside of the game. And it takes time to learn the thought process that’s going on in different situations.

How would you say your personality outside the game differs from – or is similar to – the way that you play the game?

Oh, that’s hard. I’d say it correlates quite well. At least inside of the game, I like to be vocal and take some of the important decisions.

Outside of the game, we don’t really do much other than play video games. So I don’t feel like I change character when I go into the game.

If you were not a professional gamer, though, what do you think you’d be doing?

Probably would have gone to law school. It’s just in the family. It’s a bloodline thing.

People usually game to relax and unwind, but you do it for a career. So what do you do to unwind?

I have two dogs, so I take good, long walks with my dogs to unwind. I spend time with family and friends. And I love to go to the sauna.

Just to completely switch off your mind.

Exactly.

But since you clearly spend more hours online than the average gamer, I wonder if that ever carries on into dreaming in game format?

For sure. When I was younger, I dreamt a lot about the games that I was playing.

I think it doesn’t really happen now because I play the same video game. But it was definitely a thing when I was a kid, growing up and playing games. Now I dream about everyday life.

As a pro gamer, you also have to sit for hours, which can be terrible for your back. How do you keep fit?

I train a lot. I do yoga. I run. I do strength training as well.

It’s not mandatory, but as one of the older guys, it’s something you just learn to do as your career goes on, because it’s not sustainable to not be moving throughout the day.

I try to incorporate as much movement as I have time for. It can be anything from running to strength training.

Do you also ensure you don’t get carpal tunnel?

I actually don’t think you can do anything to guard against that. You can do your stretches, you can do your training, but it’s also a lot about genetics.

It doesn’t happen that much in Counter-Strike actually. It’s way more prevalent in some of the other games. I don’t know why, but there’s not – as far as I know – been any player that’s been sidelined in the last few years due to this.

Is there a mistake you've made across your e-sports career that still haunts you today?

I’m quite happy with my long career. I’ve been playing for over half my life now, so of course there are some mistakes. But I think that you can choose to learn from them or to dwell on the past. I don’t really regret anything.

Finally, I’m very curious: Why do gamers’ names tend to have a mix of upper- and lower-case letters and numbers?

For me, I’m called dev1ce, so I have the “1” instead of an “i”.

I think back in the day, when my name was not so widespread, if you had to google the name and you would Google “device” without “1”, a million other things would pop up. So I think that’s why I started that name, honestly –  just to have easier Google searching.

Fans can get in on the action by catching the live gameplay at Resorts World Sentosa during the quarter, semi and grand final days (Nov 1 to 3). Tickets remain only for the quarter final, and can be bought via Ticketmaster.