Image: Astralis
Health issues continue to plague dev1ce, who had already missed out on competition for medical reasons back in 2017 and 2021.
Astralis star AWPer 
Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz is set to miss the upcoming Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 due to recurring health issues, the Danish player announced on Friday (November 15).
In a post on his personal X (formerly Twitter) account, dev1ce said that he consulted with medical professionals and decided to momentarily step away from competition and focus on his health “due to a recurrence of stress-related health challenges.” Dev1ce added that he expects to return to competitive play at the beginning of the 2025 season.
As a result, dev1ce will not be with Astralis as they attempt to qualify for the Shanghai Major through the tournament's European Regional Major Ranking (RMR) B event from November 21 to 24.
Astralis also announced that Alexander "br0" Bro will be standing-in for dev1ce for the duration of the Shanghai Major. The team notably benched br0 back in September to make way for current in-game leader Casper “cadiaN” Møller. While cadiaN joined Astralis as a rifling IGL, dev1ce's absence in the Shanghai Major may mean that cadiaN will take over as the team's AWPer while br0 reprises his role as rifler.
“This hurts the most knowing I’m letting down the team and our fans in the most important part of the season. These are the people that are fueling my passion to return and having to disappoint them is heartbreaking for me,” dev1ce said in his post.
“I would like to thank my amazing teammates and colleagues at Astralis for being very understanding and supportive. I’m very grateful that br0 has stepped in and I will be supporting the guys from home and I hope you guys will too.”
Dev1ce sidelined once again due to health issues
This is not the first time that dev1ce has been forced to miss out on competition due to health issues, which have plagued the Danish star's career even during the glory days of Astralis from 2017 to 2019 when they won four Majors.
In late 2017, dev1ce missed out on BLAST Pro Series: Copenhagen, the ESL Pro League Season 6 Finals, and the Esports Championship Series Season 4 Finals due to health reasons. While he was able to return in time for the ELEAGUE Boston Major in January 2018, Astralis only managed a disappointing 12th-14th place finish there.
Dev1ce also temporarily stepped away from competition in 2021 while he was playing for Ninjas in Pyjamas, withdrawing in the middle of the Intel Extreme Masters XVI - Winter and missing out on that year's BLAST Premier World Finals due to mental health issues. Dev1ce would only return from this absence in October 2022 after rejoining Astralis.
Dev1ce's latest bout with health issues resulted from a relapse of past medical conditions. In his aforementioned post, the player revealed that it started when Astralis was traveling to Singapore for this year's BLAST Premier World Finals.
“The first nights I was having issues with sleep and I wouldn’t be getting more than a few hours each night. As the week progressed I would progressively get worse symptoms including less sleep, cramps, heart palpitations, and extreme fatigue,” said dev1ce.
Dev1ce added that he hoped his symptoms would get better once he returned to Denmark, but their recurrence meant he had to “face the reality that I’m still not at a point where it’s realistic for me to compete”.
Dev1ce's absence comes at an unfortunate time for Astralis, as the team has seen a resurgence since cadiaN joined after a rough patch that started in June. Despite being one of the weaker teams in this year's BLAST Premier World Finals in Singapore, Astralis started the tournament with a huge upset over Natus Vincere and finished in 3rd-4th place.
Astralis will now have to fight 15 other teams in the Shanghai Major's European RMR B event for seven spots in the Major itself, though they will be facing stiff competition from the likes of 2024 BLAST World Final champions G2 Esports, Team Spirit, Eternal Fire, and Virtus.pro, among others.
