Dev1ce and blameF allegedly declined post-major upset interview
Astralis' captain Benjamin "blameF" Bremer and Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz allegedly turned down interviews after the team had failed to qualify for PGL Major Copenhagen during the European RMR, letting newcomer Victor "Staehr" Staehr take on the duty instead. Broadcast talent criticised the decision, arguing that blameF neglected his leadership responsibilities.
Early exit brings frustration
After an early exit, once again not qualifying for the Major, Astralis became a talking point in the Counter-Strike community. The tone around the team had been explosive after a controversial transfer season that saw the organisation build a Danish All-Star line-up while causing disruptions in rival HEROIC and its former team captain Casper "cadiaN" Møller.
After their final loss against the Russian underdogs 9 Pandas, the 19-year-old Staehr was interviewed on the broadcast. Pundits argued Staehr to be the most consistent performer on a weak Astralis during the RMR.
Nevertheless, the community expressed that it was on either the in-game leader and captain blameF or star player dev1ce to answer for the upset. Why Staehr was the one chosen for the interview was previously unknown.
Refusing the interview
The podcast Talking Counter featuring on-air talent Jason "moses" O'Toole Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill Janko "YNk" Paunović discussed Astralis' surprise defeat on a recent episode. The group agreed that losing to 9 Pandas was an underperformance that should not be happening to a team of Astralis caliber.
Eventually, the point of the post-match interview was also brought up, with host moses disclosing what he had heard behind the scenes. "They were asked for dev1ce or blameF and they said ‘absolutely not, there is no way’," the analyst and caster paraphrased from the information he had heard.
SPUNJ, who had been a professional player before his time as a broadcast talent, was outraged by the attitude. "I was an in-game leader. If I was in that situation I would be the first person to put my hand up and go to the f#!king interview, no matter how emo I am," explained the Australian.
He argued that it was the team captain's responsibility to take responsibility for his team's play. The future of Astralis is uncertain, with few obvious avenues of improvement to be made. The group argued that a new head coach, replacing the interim coach Mathias "R0nic" Pinholt, could be the first point of improvement.
