device: "Pressure has to be a privilege for us; it's not been like this in a long time"

The Danish AWPer talked about Astralis' title chances after the team made it out of the group stage.

Astralis are through to the quarter-finals of FISSURE Playground 1 after picking up a 2-0 victory against MIBR in Group C's decider stage.

It's the second consecutive playoff appearance for the Danish team while playing under Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen, but it has not been all rosy: on Wednesday, Astralis were on the receiving end of a big upset as they lost to TYLOO, who played the group stage with head coach WeiJie "⁠zhokiNg⁠" Zhong standing in for Dongkai "⁠Jee⁠" Ji.

Speaking to HLTV after the win against MIBR, Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz admitted that there is still some rust as FISSURE Playground is the team's first tournament since PGL Astana, two months ago. Still, he noted, "we want to see ourselves as a team that is capable of beating TYLOO, especially with a stand-in."

"We reviewed the game, and there were a lot of crucial rounds where we made misplays," device added. "I also don't want to take too much away from them. I think that in this game, they were shooting very hard.

"They had very skilled kills in a lot of rounds, where it just gives a lot of impact. And in CS2, a kill here and there is a round win. And I think they played really well. In the end, we also lost a lot of anti-ecos.

"It's not just the team's mistake, it's also the other team playing well. But I think we learned a lot from that game."

The runner-up finish in the group puts Astralis on a collision course with Lynn Vision in the quarter-finals. device, who has only faced the Chinese team once (a 13-4 thrashing at the 2023 CS Asia Championships) said he is approaching the match with caution and respect.

Date	Matches
FISSURE Playground 1
18/07/2025	Lynn Vision 17:15 Astralis	Match

"What people have shown here with the underdog wins is that everyone is very close," he said. "It's a lot about showing up as individuals, playing well, making your teammates better, making sure that you get good situations out of the key rounds that decide the economy.

"If that happens, I think we will have a good chance."

With the early eliminations of FURIA and paiN, Astralis are the highest-ranked team still alive as the tournament enters the playoffs. That brings additional pressure to a team that hasn't lifted a LAN trophy since 2019, but device isn't too concerned.

"Of course, there's some weight on our shoulders in some way," he acknowledged. "I think that pressure has to be a privilege for us. It has not been like this in a long time, so I'm just confident that it's going to help us.

"I think that HooXi has been a really great addition, and I think the way we've been working is a bit more focused on making fewer mistakes from game to game.

"I think that if we can just show up and play the way we want to play, I'm very confident in this tournament for us."