Reports: dev1ce expresses interest in returning to his former team Astralis

Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz is looking to return to his former team Astralis, according to reports from Dexerto and 1pv.fr. Dev1ce is the AWPer for Ninjas in Pyjamas and one of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s foremost stars. His transfer from Astralis to NiP in April of 2021 was one of the biggest roster shake-ups in recent CS:GO history. Since that time, the primarily Swedish team has struggled to establish tournament wins.

When dev1ce joined NiP, he signed a three year contract for an unspecified transfer fee somewhere north of $700,000. The circumstances would make a return to Astralis difficult and potentially expensive for the Danish organization. Even still, the return could benefit both teams if dev1ce is no longer happy playing for NiP. The 26-year-old Dane originally joined the roster while he was still in a relationship with his Swedish partner who lived in Stockholm. He’s expressed frustrations with his level of play and NiP’s lack of results in recent months. Moreover, Astralis are still in need of a consistent AWPing presence with Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander having temporarily taken up the mantle, instead of rookie Philip “Lucky” Ewald.

One of NiP’s biggest goals after adding dev1ce was to win the PGL Major 2021, which took place in Stockholm, Sweden, where the Swedish organization is based. The team failed to perform to the standards they set for themselves after Intel Extreme Masters Fall, which they’d won. After IEM Fall, NiP briefly became the No. 1 ranked team in the world. A quick quarterfinals exit from the major was enough to change that and to prompt a roster swap. In November, NiP brought in fellow Dane Patrick “es3tag” Hansen to replace Linus “LNZ” Holtäng.

Even with es3tag in the roster, NiP have not yet found an event win. In fact, one of their deepest runs came at IEM Winter, where dev1ce was sitting out from the playoffs due to illness. The team lost in the grandfinals with Love “phzy” Smidebrant playing as a stand-in. The Young Ninjas AWPer could be at the front of the line to replace dev1ce if a transfer back to Astralis goes through. Dev1ce also missed the recent BLAST Premier: World Final with the same illness.