dev1ce isn’t at the Shanghai Major, here’s why

Ivan Frigato Published November 14, 2024

With the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 less than two weeks away, Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz has announced that he will no longer be competing.

Without a doubt, dev1ce is one of the most decorated players in Counter-Strike history. As the AWPer for Astralis from 2016 to 2021, he has four major titles and two MVP awards under his belt. In 2023, HTLV ranked him as the 11th-best player in the game with a 1.20 rating. Despite his stellar competitive performance in 2024, however, dev1ce announced that he won’t be able to attend the Shanghai Major should Astralis qualify.

Here’s why dev1ce will no longer be at the Shanghai major and who’s filling in his spot at Astralis.

dev1ce to miss Shanghai Major due to health issues

dev1ce revealed that after discussions with his medical team, he must miss Shanghai Major to focus on his health.

The Danish CS2 player listed several contributing symptoms since Singapore. He is affected by insomnia, fatigue, cramps, and heart palpitations. While stated as potentially stress-induced, this in no way reduces the seriousness of his health issues. Given that his health has only continued to decline, the best possible option for dev1ce is seemingly to stay home from the Shanghai Major and rest.

“Most of all this hurts the most knowing I’m letting down the team and our fans in the most important part of the season,” he said in his X post. “These are the people that are fueling my passion to return and having to disappoint them is heartbreaking for me.”

Notably, dev1ce also clarified that this is not the end of his professional CS2 career. He plans to return at the beginning of the 2025 season after prioritizing his physical and mental health.

Alexander “br0” Bro substitutes for Astralis at the Shanghai Major

br0 is getting off the bench to take dev1ce’s place on Astralis at the Shanghai Major.

br0 and Astralis have had a rocky relationship since his signing in February 2024. Astralis benched br0 in favor of Casper “cadiaN” Moller for the BLAST Premier Fall Final, despite being past the deadline to do so. The player has been benched since then, but director of sports Kasper Straube says that br0 is more than ready to compete in China.

Those watching can catch br0 and Astralis at Perfect World Shanghai Majors from November 30 to December 15, 2024. After that, the next major takes place in Austin in June of 2025. Hopefully, dev1ce feels better and is able to reclaim his spot on Astralis as a world class AWPer.