CS:GOodbye, device: The most consistent player of all time

Counter-Strike 2 is nearing its full release, and it’s time we say goodbye to CS:GO.

So far, we’ve looked at the best teams, the best duos, and even had a brief look at the best players, but now it's time to go deeper with those players and celebrate the most special players to have graced our screens for the past decade.

When we discuss players, we often speak of their peaks and longevity, how far they climbed and how long they managed to stay there. In Counter-Strike, greatness comes from standing atop a mountain that no one else can climb.

So when we think of those metrics, although he may never have reached number one in HLTV's top twenty, who can compare to device?

Photo: Michal Konkol

The greatest Danish player in CS:GO, very few players have ever reached a peak similar to device's, and no one can boast the longevity he can. He may not be at the end of his career yet, but as he prepares to play his third iteration of Counter-Strike professionally, it's time we say goodbye to device in CS:GO.

The rise

Just like Xyp9x and dupreeh, device began his professional CS:GO life with Copenhagen Wolves.

Not reaching the top twenty in his first year, when the team moved to Dignitas, device reached new heights and device debuted on the list at number twenty.

For a player who, in 2012, FeTiSh told HLTV was "wasting his potential", by 2014, those problems seemed behind him. With a 1.11 HLTV rating that year, this extended to 1.36 on the CT side, the fourth best in the world that year.

The team failed to win a tournament in 2014, but with 3rd finishes at both EMS One: Katowice, and ESL One: Cologne, two of the three Majors that year, they were beginning to show their true potential. device was a key factor in both of those finishes, particularly in Cologne, where his 1.14 HLTV rating made him the highest rated on the team.

By the end of the following year, a year he had spent with TSM, device had established himself as one of the finest Counter-Strike players in the World.

Photo: Michal Konkol

Rising all the way to 3rd on HLTV's top twenty, his 1.15 HLTV rating combined with victories at FACEIT League Stage 1 and 2, as well as FragBite Season 4, saw him become a feared player from a young age as he earned MVP awards at two of those events.

Having joined Astralis in 2016, device would match his ranking in HLTV's top twenty from the prior year and his HLTV rating over the course of the year.

Considering Astralis failed to win an event until the very last event of the year, ECS Season 2, once again this placement is a testament to how strong device was at the time. A year dominated by Brazilian CS, when all other regional scenes were all strong too, he still managed to perform well enough to appear in the top three players in the world. His impact rating was ridiculously high at 1.28, and the 51 1vX situations won kept Astralis in games they would've otherwise been hopeless in.

The peak

2017 was a huge year for device and Astralis, starting out the year by winning the ELEAGUE Atlanta major in the very first month. Missing out on the MVP of the event to Kjaerbye due to his 0.89 HLTV rating in the final, his 1.29 HLTV rating at the event was still the highest on the team overall.

For his end of year interview, he recalled the win to HLTV: "My favourite memory? Winning the major, lifting the trophy with my best friends and achieving the ultimate there is in Counter Strike."

However at the time, although they had won the event, it was the disappointment of that performance in the final that allowed him to stay hungry.

Astralis would later win IEM Katowice that year, the first IEM win of device's career. Once again an EVP, this time losing out on the MVP award Xyp9x, it was the last event Astralis would win all year as they returned to struggling to convert deep tournament runs into victories, including at the PGL Krakow Major, where they lost in the semi finals to Gambit.

Photo: Adela Sznajder

The result of this was device, despite winning a Major, slipping down to fifth in the HLTV top twenty. Still one of the best players in the world, given his performances in some of the team's biggest games, there was still worries that the choker tag still hung over his head.

That being said, 2018 would quickly see those worries go away.

Now lining up with Magisk after Kjaerbye's unceremonious departure, device and Astralis embarked on what was regarded as the greatest year of any CS:GO team.

Redefining the game through their by the numbers, tactics focussed game plan, the team claimed their second Major and the inaugural season of the Intel Grand Slam.

In that Major, despite not being the highest-rated player at the event, device won the MVP award thanks to his still incredible 1.26 HLTV rating. Now firmly putting the choker tag behind him, the ten big event wins, and seven MVP awards would see device climb back to a career-highest second place in HLTV's top twenty.

One of the most significant years of any player in history. It's only due to the previously unheard-of levels of s1mple that year that device didn't finish first.

His 1.24 HLTV rating over the year remains the highest of his career to date, and the 1.34 HLTV rating he had on the CT side meant he was the best CT side player in the world that year.

Photo: Jak Howard

The Astralis dominance extended into 2019, where they won 6 big events, and device claimed the MVP at three of them. SLipping slightly to a 1.22 HLTV rating over the year, he only fell to third on their top twenty because of the incredible rookie year displayed by ZywOo.

It was also the year that Astralis added a third and fourth Major to their collection at IEM Katowice and StarLadder Berlin, becoming the most decorated team in CS:GO history as they surpassed fnatic.

The fall

device once again finished in the top three of HLTV's top twenty in 2020, his fifth top-5 finish in a row. MVP of three out of four Astralis event wins that year, his 1.20 HLTV rating over the year meant he remained one of the most dangerous snipers in the game.

Photo: Michal Konkol

Still, in the online era, 2021 would see not just a massive change for device, but one of the most significant changes for CS:GO, as the AWPer left his Danish roots behind to join NIP.

An ill-fated move to a side that never truly like it had been completed as stand-ins marred them, device remained one of the best players in the world as his 1.14 HLTV rating that year secured him 11th place in the HLTV top twenty.

A tough year all the same. By the end of the year, device would cite mental health struggles as he began a period of inactivity in December that would stretch until October of the following year.

The return

When device returned to competitive play, he did so back home with Astralis. Refreshed and ready to stake a claim as one of the best players in the world once more, although it hasn't yet come with a bigger tournament win than a CCT event, device's performances since his return are as one should expect from a player with his history.

Sitting pretty with a 1.21 HLTV Rating on LAN so far this year, he was one of the stars of an Astralis team that has already managed to reach the semi-finals at IEM Cologne just one month after the arrivals of b0RUP and Staehr.

Now one of the elder statesmen of the Danish Counter-Strike scene, device doesn't look to be slowing down any time soon. Tied with his captain blameF as the highest-rated Danish player this year, he is still as incredible as he's ever been.

A player with one of the highest peaks for arguably the longest time, without the existence of a superhuman like s1mple, there's no doubt in our mind that device would be regarded as the greatest player of all time.