Dev1ce, The Tactical Sniper
When Astralis announced that dev1ce was to become the main AWPer of the squad, I was skeptical. Dev1ce as a player was one of the world’s best riflers and by putting him on the AWP meant that the team was going to lose that versatility and firepower. While having an AWP is important for a team (some argue necessary), it seemed to be a waste as dev1ce was a good secondary AWPer but lacked the natural finesse, instincts and flare needed to become a primary AWPer that could challenge the world stage. As it turned out, that was the case. You can go down the list of world class AWPers and in raw talent, it’s hard to argue that dev1ce can outmatch them. GuardiaN, KennyS, FalleN, Skadoodle, even hybrids like s1mple or snax. All of this is true, but it is also true that today dev1ce is rguably the best AWPers in the world. The only argument against that is kennyS and even then dev1ce has aspects to his AWPing style that supercede even him. Dev1ce stands atop the world today as one of, if not the world’s best AWPer and he did it not through talent but introspection and hard work.
The critical thing to know about dev1ce’s AWP is that he never overextends beyond his skill. What I mean by that is he will never put himself into a KennyS or Fallen super aggressive position where he will have fight his way out with 4 players surrounding him and he has to hit four high speed flicks to win the round. Dev1ce’s AWP is solely focused on the tactical edge that the AWP gives to a team and he has honed that style further than anyone else in the world playing today.
This is most readily seen on the CT-side. When dev1ce has an AWP he is the most mobile AWPer in the world. Where other teams depend on the two AWP setup to hold ground and gain information, Astralis get away with just using the one because dev1ce is a constant menace on the map that is too hard for other teams to read. Take for instance one game against OpTic at the ELeague Major. On the CT-side of train, dev1ce used 6 different positions at the start of the round for where he initially sets up. He used Bomb train, IV, CT-train, Z connector, Upper B, Lower ramp. This doesn’t even take into account the fact that he can do one to three different rotations throughout the round depending on if he got a pick or information he has. Dev1ce does the exact same thing on the T-side of the map, but his movements are less varied as he is doing one of two things: either countering his opponent or taking over a critical part of the map so that works into the Astralis system.
In order to do this though, dev1ce had to go a step above what other players did. He studied other player’s VODs and habits, used heatmaps for his opponents and his own games to find ways to evolve his style of play. The secret to what makes dev1ce such a potent AWPer isn’t anything like inherent talent. As I’ve stated previously, I can think of many other AWPers who are more talented than he is at handling the weapon. No, what makes dev1ce so amazing is his work ethic, intelligence and maximization of his own abilities. He won’t make a play that is outside of his skill set, but by the same token he will almost always play to the maximum of his potential.
https://twitter.com/dev1ce/status/880100182691651584
The biggest example of this during the Krakow Major run was in his AWP duel against FalleN in the Astralis vs SK series in the playoffs. Well, AWP duel is a euphemism as dev1ce slaughtered FalleN. In 12 AWP duels, dev1ce won 10 of them. Dev1ce continually opened the round leaving Astralis in a 5v4. This hampered the SK side as they could no longer stay aggressive on the CT-side and had to fall back, allowing Astralis too much space to manuever and take over the map. Only heroic individual plays kept SK close on Cache while on Overpass it was a complete wipe out.
Even dev1ce’s rifle play hasn’t stagnated since his time on the AWP. He is still amazing on them and can still has incredible impact either defending sites, opening the rounds with his AK or teaming up with Kjaerbye to break open bombsites.
One year ago, Astralis needed a main AWPer. One year ago, dev1ce answered the call and started his long journey towards the top. One year later, we can see he has succeeded and created a dynamic tactical playstyle all of his own. One that has been the key to helping Astralis become one of the best teams in the world and has won a Major. While dev1ce may not be the most skilled AWPer in the world, he is certainly among the best and arguably the most effective AWP that his team could ever wish for. He now stands on even ground with the best AWPers in the game today and we must tip our hats in salutations to the incredible feat the dev1ce has accomplished.
