Astonishingly, the actual game played out very differently, with Astralis sweeping NAVI 2-0 on Nuke and Mirage. The most surprising part is that both games were not even close, following a 6-13 scoreline. As far as how Astralis managed to pull off such a feat, Nicolai "device" Reedtz spoke with HLTV in a post-match interview to reveal what every CS2 fan is dying to know.
When asked about how winning this match feels and how important it has been for the team, device said
It's a really good feeling. We didn't have that many result-oriented expectations going into the tournament, but we lived up to a lot of the things that we talked about, in regards to how we want to play. So, yeah, it feels really good.
I think for most teams this is a tournament where you can kind of see where you're at, what you need to work on and if you are feeling ready going into the Major. So of course it means a lot. Having a good result here is just a good indicator, but you can't really be complacent, either. It's just a best-of-three win, and we have a lot more to test and see what's working and so on down here.
When asked about how confident he was heading into the match against NAVI, device said
We knew it was going to be an open game. I think every time you have a long travel and you have the first game, it's always… It's not hard to be ready for the game like a professional, but there are still a lot of other outside factors, with jet lag and everything, that can affect players. So we knew that if we did our thing, tried to get some good sleep, good nutrition and stuff like that, we could maybe have a little bit of an edge. But as you said, they were quite the favorites in this matchup. We didn't really think too much about who we were going to face. It was more about what we wanted to achieve on the server.
When asked about his thoughts on other teams underestimating Astralis given their its recent record, device said
Objectively looking at this tournament, you have seven teams that are probably really close to each other and then we're maybe the black sheep a little bit, so I can understand those comments. I don't feel too frustrated about that at all. I mean, it's kind of a free tournament for us because there are no outside expectations for us playing here.
On paper and in our own minds, we view ourselves as a team that needs to be able to challenge for titles, with the players we have. I don't mind too much if people don't see us as having reached that yet because we haven't really done much other than winning a best-of-one. So yeah, it's all about the work that happens behind the scenes.
When asked about how he’s adjusted to cadiaN’s system since his last HLTV-interview because stavn is clearly comfortable now, device said
Definitely need still more time. I think it's just how it is, with these national teams. I think you have to get on the same page and challenge these international teams that are built on firepower and so on. It takes some time to be able to play out of the normal systems that most teams play in. Of course, this is a really good indication of what we can do. And we've had a lot of good practices and stuff like that. It's hard to say.
I think maybe the room is the same, but I think he [stavn] feels more comfortable. I think he kind of grew up in this system, and I think that's also one of the things that I notice sometimes, that he, jabbi and cadiaN are already on the same page, and me and Staehr have to kind of like catch up sometimes. He just knows more what cadiaN thinks on the spot and that's also something that requires time. But he's for sure playing better. I think he's been playing well the entire time, especially in practice and stuff. I'm just happy to see him thrive.
When asked about how he feels about his chances of winning it all given the NAVI upset, device said
I think it changes a little bit. I think now we have the opportunity to play for the semi-final instead of just for survival, and that also means we will have two more games here, which is just really good practice and prep for us going into the RMR. I feel that if we can beat NAVI and play the way we did today consistently, of course we can challenge the teams here. Of course, it's about taking on the challenges we've set as a team in terms of how we want to play and how we want to react and be as a team in the server and outside of the server. And if we live up to that, as we did today, I think we are a really strong competitor.
