Buzz: "We have to be realistic about our expectations"

After a small amount of preparation, the Danes enter BLAST Groups with a new-look roster.

The BLAST Premier Spring Groups begin on Thursday, and Astralis come into the event with new addition Christian "⁠Buzz⁠" Andersen, while also making their LAN debut with Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz.

The Danes have a lot to prove coming into the season, after having a lackluster 2022 that resulted in them not securing a place at IEM Katowice 2023. Expectations are high for the Danish team, with the star duo of device and Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer providing a sense of optimism for the Astralis supporters.

The addition of Buzz came with a lot less fanfare, as the 19-year-old took a big step up from MASONIC and is now set to make his debut in tier-one competition. Given his lack of experience, he is set to be under a lot of pressure to prove he belongs on the biggest stage.

Before the event, HLTV spoke to Buzz about his feelings after joining the Danish organization and the teams' expectations for the upcoming season.

You've had about a month to process everything, how are you feeling about making the move to Astralis?

I am feeling excited, it's a huge step in my career. Everyone took good care of me and was very welcoming to make sure I got integrated into the team personally and in-game wise, so yeah, feeling good.

How did the move happen, can you walk me through the process?

I talked to Kasper [Hvidt, Director of Sports at Astralis] for about a month and a half, so it was a pretty long process with all the negotiations. They had some doubts as well, but it all worked out in the end.

What is the biggest difference between your previous teams and Astralis?

The biggest difference is definitely all the resources we have available and the players are much more experienced, plus a way bigger staff team. So that means all of the practices are much more efficient and longer, so everything is just very different.

You mentioned all the players are much more experienced. How does it feel coming on a practice server with names such as device, gla1ve, and Xyp9x, can you learn a lot from them?

It definitely feels good, but I'm not putting them above myself. We are all equals in the team, I knew device for a pretty long time before I joined the team as well and played a lot of pugs with him. So yeah, on the server and on Teamspeak it's pretty casual and nice, and in-game as well. About improving my game I'm working with the coaches especially and they are doing everything to help me improve, going through the practices after we are done and putting in some extra time to help me.

Considering you joined from a much lower-ranked team, not many of the casual fan base would have seen many of your games. What kind of player are you, how would you describe your playstyle?

I think it's going to be a bit different now in Astralis, obviously I have new roles on some of the maps and some new spots, but previously I would describe myself as an aggressive lurker. But yeah, now I'm not going to be the main lurk, more of playing the outer point of the map, getting some info and relaying it to gla1ve or blameF and helping them make a call and hopefully win the round. So yeah, a bit of a different role.

Transitioning to the BLAST Groups — You're coming into the event as the third seed in your group, what are your expectations for the tournament?

My expectations are to qualify, I would say. Our expectations are obviously to win the whole thing, but also we didn't have that much time to practice all of the maps and it's a lot of work, so we have to be realistic about our expectations. But if we play like we did in practice then we can win, it went pretty well.

Astralis were one of the few teams that haven't yet played Anubis. What do you think of the map?

I like the map, I played it on FACEIT a bit and it looks really fun.

So can we expect you to play it?

Maybe, maybe not (laughs).

Your first game is against Vitality. How are you feeling about your debut?

Right now I'm not feeling any nerves yet, just excitement. I think as we get closer to the match I think more feelings will come, but I'm a pretty laid-back person so I will take it as it comes.

Heroic are in your group, Astralis have quite a grudge match and Astralis hasn't beaten them since 2021. Are you ready to battle them for the title of the best Danish team?

Hopefully, I think we can do well against them if we do meet them. As I said, we had limited time to practice and we're just gonna do our best.

Considering the team will miss out on Katowice, is this tournament more important because of that?

I mean I would say it's pretty important, also because it's my first tournament and our first time together as a team, but I wouldn't really say we feel more pressure because of that, especially me, I'm pretty chill.

What are your goals for the first half of the year in general?

Our goals are to first make the Major and then do good there, and then also to either win a tournament or make some playoff appearances. We are just set on keeping improving and working hard, so we are going to be a great team if we keep doing this.