Health issues continue to plague dev1ce, who missed tournaments for medical reasons in 2017 and 2021.

Astralis star AWPer Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz will not participate in the upcoming Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 due to recurring health issues, according to the Danish player's announcement on Friday (November 15).

In a post on his personal X account (formerly Twitter), dev1ce said he consulted with medical experts and decided to temporarily step away from competitions to focus on his health. due to the recurrence of stress-related health challenges.” Dev1ce said he expects to return to play at the beginning of the 2025 season.

As a result, dev1ce will not be able to accompany Astralis as they attempt to qualify for the Shanghai Major through the European Major Regional Rankings (RMR) B event from November 21 to 24.

Astralis also announced that Alexander "br0" Bro will replace dev1ce during the Shanghai Major. The team benched br0 in September to make room for current captain Casper “cadiaN” Møller. Although cadiaN joins Astralis as the rifle IGL captain, dev1ce's absence at the Shanghai Major could force cadiaN to take on the team's AWPer role, while br0 will return to the rifle role. .

“The most heartbreaking thing is knowing that I am letting the team and the fans down in the most important period of the season. They are the ones who give me the passion to come back, and disappointing them really hurts,” dev1ce shared in his post.

“I want to thank my amazing teammates and colleagues at Astralis for their understanding and support. I'm very grateful to br0 for agreeing to replace me and I'll be supporting the boys from afar, and I hope you do the same."

Dev1ce once again had to take a break from competition due to health problems

This is not the first time dev1ce has been forced to miss tournaments due to health problems, these have haunted the Danish star's career, even during Astralis's golden age from 2017 to 2019. as they won four Major titles.

At the end of 2017, dev1ce missed BLAST Pro Series: Copenhagen, ESL Pro League Season 6 Finals and Esports Championship Series Season 4 Finals due to health reasons. Although he returned in time for the ELEAGUE Boston Major in January 2018, Astralis only managed a disappointing 12th to 14th place.

Dev1ce also took a break from competition in 2021 when he was still playing for Ninjas in Pajamas, withdrew midway from Intel Extreme Masters XVI - Winter and missed that year's BLAST Premier World Finals due to mental health issues. Dev1ce only returned from this absence in October 2022 after rejoining Astralis.

dev1ce's latest recurrence of health problems stems from past medical conditions. In the mentioned post, the player revealed that the symptoms started when Astralis traveled to Singapore to participate in this year's BLAST Premier World Finals.

“The first few nights I had trouble sleeping and only slept a few hours each night. As the week went on, my symptoms gradually got worse, including lack of sleep, cramps, heart palpitations, and extreme fatigue,” dev1ce shares.

Dev1ce added that he hoped his symptoms would improve upon returning to Denmark, but their recurrence forced him to “accept the fact that I'm still not at the point where I can compete.”

dev1ce's absence comes at an inopportune time for Astralis, as the team has been on a rebound since cadiaN joined after a difficult period starting in June. Despite being one of the weaker teams at BLAST This year's Premier World Finals in Singapore, Astralis started the tournament with a shocking victory over Natus Vincere and finished 3-4.

Astralis will now have to face 15 other teams in the European RMR B event of the Shanghai Major for the seven spots in the Major, although they will have to compete fiercely with strong teams such as G2 Esports, Team Spirit, Eternal Fire , and Virtus.pro, among others.