We’re back with another team profile, this time on Astralis Talent! The young Danes were among the first in this latest wave of academy teams, but very little is known about them outside of the Danish scene. Read below to find out everything you need to know about the Danish squad!

The players

Andreas "void" Dietrichsen

• Age: 18

• Place of residence: Denmark

• Rank: Level 10 on FACEIT, 3200 ELO

• Role: AWPer

• Current goal: Win a big tournament and gain more experience.

• Main source of inspiration: void really admires how smart of a player Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut is

• Advice for his younger self: Do a great job.

Career

First important tournament: Snow Sweet Snow #1 after joining Astralis Talent.

How he joined the team: void was contacted by Astralis Talent’s coach Dennis "VNG" Vang asking him if he’d be interested to join the team. 

What he got from joining Astralis Talent: A lot of people have started recognizing him since he joined Astralis. 

First impression of the team: void thought that his teammates were very skilled and felt like everyone was excited to play together. 

Fun facts: He became an AWPer in his previous teams and found a lot of success in the role. 

Expectations of WAL: To get a lot of experience during the event.

Mads "vester" Vestergaard

• Age: 19

• Place of residence: Vejle, Denmark

• Rank: Level 10 on FACEIT, 3300 ELO

• Role: Entry fragger

• Main achievements: Earning the MVP award in the mithR Challenge while playing for Atlando Esports.

• Current goal: Play well in WePlay Academy League and eventually play on the big stage in front of huge crowds.

• Favorite teams: vester has always admired Astralis for defining the meta, and he quite likes watching Gambit Esports play for that same reason now.

• Main source of inspiration: vester really admires Jake "Stewie2K" Yip’s playstyle. 

• Advice for his younger self: Stay positive when you’re playing because a positive mindset will help you develop.

Career

First important tournament: Copenhagen Games 2018 with Sørby Academy.

First acquaintance among pro players: The first pro player vester played with was Markus "Kjaerbye" Kjærbye.

How he joined the team: He played very well on Esimed Esports and was contacted by VNG.

First impression of the team: He felt like his teammates were very kind, funny, and dedicated.

Fun facts: vester describes void as the clown of the team, vigg0 as the serious voice, Gnøffe as the most dedicated player, and Altekz as just a very normal guy.

Expectations of WAL: Reach the LAN portion.

Victor "vigg0" Bisgaard

• Age: 21

• Place of residence: Denmark

• CS:GO Experience: 6 years

• Rank: Level 10 on FACEIT, 3400 ELO

• Role: IGL

• Main achievements: Joining Astralis Talent.

• Current goal: Improve as a team, win games more consistently and pick up a few titles in the coming months.

• Advice for his younger self: Because he took a lot of breaks early into his career, vigg0’s advice to his younger self is to just keep playing and keep up his form.

Career

First important tournament: Snow Sweet Snow #1 after joining Astralis Talent.

First acquaintance among pro players: He played PUGs with Michael "Friis" Jørgensen.

How he joined the team: He played for Atlando Esports and after performing well on that team, he received an offer to join Astralis Talent.

What he got from joining Astralis Talent: vigg0 has learnt that being a professional player means he must make some sacrifices in his personal life in order to lead this lifestyle. 

First impression of the team: vigg0 felt like the roster was very skilled but also quite young.

Fun facts: After Astralis Talent benched Mathias "R0nic" Pinholt, Altekz was brought in to be the IGL, but vigg0 has since taken on the role and has been leading the young squad. 

Expectations of WAL: Learn from every game and place in the top 4.

Alexander "Altekz" Givskov

• Age: 18

• Place of residence: Denmark

• CS:GO Experience: 8-10 years across different CS titles

• Rank: Level 10 on FACEIT, 3600 ELO

• Role: Rifler (anchor)

• Main achievements: Winning some local Danish LANs.

• Current goal: Reach the LAN finals in Kyiv and make the playoffs in their next events.

• Favorite teams: Astralis, Gambit Esports, and mousesports.

• Main source of inspiration: He looks up to Emil "Magisk" Reif and Robin "ropz" Kool, although he really enjoys watching Sergey "Ax1Le" Rykhtorov play recently.

• Advice for his younger self: Play more focused rather than just for the sake of playing. 

Career

First important tournament: Altekz recalls his first LAN event five years ago where he and four other 13 year olds were able to upset some more experienced teams. 

First acquaintance among pro players: Altekz played with Rasmus "sjuush" Beck in a few local LANs roughly four years ago.

How he joined the team: Altekz was contacted by VNG and accepted the offer to join the team.

What he got from joining Astralis Talent: Altekz feels like Astralis gives him whatever he needs in order to become a better player and that the organization pays a lot of attention to their teams.

First impression of the team: Altekz felt like everyone clicked well together and that the team atmosphere was really good. 

Fun facts: 

• Altekz really admires vigg0 for being able to frag while leading. 

• He likes playing with Gnøffe because he doesn’t feel the need to be at the top of the scoreboard. 

• He thinks that vester is a really talented entry fragger. 

• He feels like void is the most talented AWPer he’s played with in terms of raw skill. 

• Altekz switched back to his old anchor roles because the team felt like being the in-game leader was a lot of pressure for the squad’s youngest member.

Expectations of WAL: Reach the playoffs of WePlay Academy League.

Lucas "Gnøffe" Brunsvig

• Age: 18

• Place of residence: Denmark

• CS:GO Experience: Roughly 12 years over different CS titles.

• Rank: Level 10 on FACEIT, 3000 ELO

• Role: Rifler

• Main achievements: Getting deep placements in some qualifiers.

• Current goal: Work hard and take it one day at a time.

• Favorite teams: Gambit Esports

• Main source of inspiration: Admires Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev for always striving to be the best.

• Advice for his younger self: Just have fun and enjoy playing the game. 

Career

First important tournament: BLAST Rising 2021 after joining Astralis Talent.

How he joined the team: VNG messaged Gnøffe on Twitter, and after a successful tryout period, he joined the team permanently.

What he got from joining Astralis Talent: Gnøffe feels like Astralis gives the team everything they need to perform. 

First impression of the team: Gnøffe’s first impressions were really good because he had already played with some of the players in the past.

Fun facts: Gnøffe feels like he’s a rifler who can do anything and is just happy to help out the team.

Expectations of WAL: Place in the top 4.

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