Top 20 players of 2018: dupreeh (5)

Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen breaks into the top 5 in the top 20 ranking, powered by EGB.com, for the first time in his career after an impactful year in which he put up some of the highest numbers on the CT sides while shining in his entry-fragging role on the offensive side.

Top 20 Players of 2018: Introduction

Like Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz and Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander, dupreeh is also a child of Counter-Strike: Source, the preferred version of the game among many Danes at the time, but it was with the advent of Global Offensive that the Danish entry-fragger started to make waves with 3DMAX in 2012, and in 2013 when he was picked up by Henrik "⁠FeTiSh⁠" Christensen to join Copenhagen Wolves, a team device and Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth would also join to form the core of the team that is now the most dominant force in CS:GO, Astralis.

“When CS:S was nearing its end, a lot of players started 'giving up' on the game, since esports, in general, weren't that widespread and mostly without any salary, so a lot of the older players had to focus on their careers and that resulted in a natural change of scenery, where I was one of the younger guys and was given a chance to prove my worth.

“I started playing with 3DMAX during the end of CS:S and the beginning CS:GO, where I started to make a name for myself. The reigning CS:S champions had decided to step down, as they saw no future in CS:GO, but as it started to grow they came back and I was offered my first professional team when FeTiSh approached me to see if I would be interested in playing with him, 3k2, wantz, and cajunb.

“Time passed, and device had started to show interest in the game, too, so he was picked up shortly after. It wasn't until the end of the aforementioned lineup when we went and picked up Xyp9x from fnatic, when 3k2 and wantz decided to retire, and here we are, many years later, and we’re still going strong.”

It was in 2013 that dupreeh broke into the top 20 ranking for the first time, in 18th place, as he and his Copenhagen Wolves started to make a name for themselves in the international circuit, eventually getting picked up by Dignitas in 2014. That year, dupreeh and the rest of his teammates started to make it deeper and deeper into tournament brackets, but were famous for being unable to make it past the semi-finals despite having one of the most solid CT-sides in the game. Individually, dupreeh made his first small leap making it to the 16th place in the top 20, two places higher than the previous year.

In 2015, under the TSM banner and with Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen as the in-game leader, the Danes were able to find success, going on to win five tournaments: the FACEIT Stage 1 and Stage 2 Finals, Fragbite Masters Season 4, and the CCS Kick-off Season Finals and its follow-up tournament, the PGL Season 1 Finals. TSM’s trophies and dupreeh’s impact in his team's victories gave him yet another boost in the rankings, as he climbed all the way to #12 in that year’s top 20.

“I honestly see both device and Xyp9x as two of my best friends. We’ve been through tons of things, we’ve had positive and negative days. We have experienced major wins and major losses, and we have shared some really great memories together, both in-game and outside of the server. I wouldn’t trade anything for the bond we’ve created! We have gotten closer with each other’s families and girlfriends, too, so it all starts to feel like one big secondary family, and I absolutely love it.”

Then came 2016, which would prove to be a tough one, as dupreeh and company would struggle to find victories under the new Astralis brand. During the second half of the year, karrigan was put on the bench after a 7th place finish at ESL One New York, and gla1ve was called on to be the team’s in-game leader. The Danes won their only trophy at the last event they attended that year, the ECS Season 2 Finals, in Anaheim, California, and dupreeh failed to make the top 20 ranking that year for the first time since his inclusion in 2013.

Astralis became Major winners after lifting the trophy at the ELEAGUE 2017 Major in Atlanta, but they wouldn’t be able to find the stability they are known for today, as they would taper off after a strong start to the year while the team played around with switching roles and figuring out their composition, as well as having to endure some tournaments with stand-ins due to health issues in the roster. Individually, dupreeh would go on to have his best year, however, as he made his first incursion into the top 10 of the top 20 ranking that year, in tenth place, with five EVP mentions.

“I think [Xyp9x, device, and I] have learned something from every single one of our IGLs, both good and bad things. I think it’s hard to point out what each individual did right and wrong in their respective period because the way the game is being played today is completely different from how it was played when FeTiSh was leading.

“I learned the professional basics from FeTiSh, that being communication and teamplay. From karrigan, I learned explosiveness and on-the-fly understanding of the game in pretty much every scenario, and from gla1ve, I’ve learned what a real leader is and how the perfect balance between well-drilled strategies combined with individual greatness can be a deadly combo.

“With FeTiSh we had a very loose default approach to the game, with a few good tactics. It worked out really well, especially as CTs. We had a really good idea how to approach the game. I believe we were to easily readable as T’s, however, but that could be a combination of many things.

“karrigan was brought in to lift our game and he surely managed to do so. We combined our great individual skill with some very explosive tactics and fast paced defaults, and we surely learned a lot during this period of time.

“Every single one of them has given something to the team’s core, but gla1ve and Magisk have proven to be the best addition we’ve done to this core. gla1ve has such a good understanding of the game, and such a calm personality, that he just brings exactly what this team needs. Combine that with him being the best fragging IGL and you have one hell of a machine.”

The last piece of the puzzle was handed to Astralis on a silver platter in early 2018, eventhough they may not have known it at the time, as Markus "⁠Kjaerbye⁠" Kjærbye left the team to join North following a dismal 12-14th place at the ELEAGUE Major in Boston. Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif was brought on to fill the last spot on the roster as the Danes found themselves in one of the deepest pits they have ever been in following the Major group stage exit. The butchery that was the Boston Major affected dupreeh the least on the boards, though, as the temporary AWPer was able to maintain a positive team-high 1.02 rating.

“The atmosphere [in the team] was fine, I’d say. We had some struggles in terms of composition, as I was given a chance to AWP full-time with device playing a more rifle-lurker role. It was a big disappointment to go out of the group stage at the Major, it was the first time for the core. It was clear something had to change, but not players, just roles. I wanted to go back to entry fragging. I'm a very aggressive player, and it's just in my philosophy and understanding of the game to be aggressive. I wanted to hand the AWP back to device because I could see he didn't thrive the same way as he did when he was playing a hybrid of AWP and rifles.

“We had one problem, and that was, that Kjaerbye also wanted to entry and be the spearhead. At first we decided to split the role, so we both had the opportunity to entry and do aggressive plays, and I felt it could have worked, but he had others plans on his mind. At this time, I'm just happy it ended the way it did.

“It was was extremely bittersweet and I felt backstabbed by Kjaerbye, mainly because of the way he handled the change to North. It was a very weird time. We were short on time to prepare, short on time to find a replacement, and in general felt we lacked a player to fulfill the role we had unwillingly left open in the team.

“We had different candidates for the spot, but Magisk was the clear favourite, both play style and personality wise, but also because of the hunger he showed, it was something that was very inspiring and probably also something that lit the motivational fire in the rest of our team."

After the Major came the first event with the new lineup, StarSeries i-League Season 4, one of the most competitive tournaments of the year with a stacked roster and a best-of-three Swiss group stage. The Danes were unable to make a mark there, going out in the first round of the playoffs against the hometown heroes, Natus Vincere, but dupreeh started to show a glimpse of what was to come with a team-high 1.23 rating (1.28 impact rating) in Astralis's 13 maps played.

The signs of recovery kept coming as Astralis were able to scale to higher heights during the following tournament, IEM Katowice. In Poland, the Danes were able to hit one more step towards the end goal of winning again, making it to the semi-finals. dupreeh had five out of six maps with a +1.00 rating during the group stage and a good showing in the upper bracket final against Liquid but a tough loss to FaZe brought dupreeh down to a 1.03 rating at the event, the lowest in the team. After Katowice came one of the most important events of the year for Astralis, as they would finally be able to lift a trophy. It happened at DreamHack Masters Marseille, where dupreeh failed to make the cut as an EVP despite his 1.14 rating. Astralis started to show their potential at that tournament, winning it out cleanly with a 5-0 record. dupreeh's aforementioned 1.14 rating was a very high floor, considering it was the lowest out of all of the team’s players.

“I felt we had something unique going our way, and we had figured out how everyone in the team could function as optimally as possible. I was partly worried at the beginning, but it was not something that I put too much energy into. Picking up a new player, how would that go? Going back to my roots of entry-fragging, how would that go? I didn’t know, I just took one day at a time, and had one mindset: improve.

“I’ve always seen my team as a contender for titles, we’ve just had our struggles, mentally. I wouldn’t play on a team that I didn’t believe could win titles, that would just be a waste of time for me. We’ve had talks within the team about our win in Marseille and we agreed that winning there was probably the most important thing of 2018, at least mentally. We had a long period struggling without any wins and we finally proved to ourselves that we could still win. It opened up the potential and helped us believe. People could say that a downside to the win could have been if it was a fluke, but luckily we proved everyone wrong.”

Following the big win in Marseille, which gave the team some much-needed confidence, came a second-place run at IEM Sydney, where FaZe were able to get the best of Astralis in the best-of-five grand final. The match went 3-0 for the European combine, but two maps were won in overtime and one in a 30-round affair. The tournament in Australia saw dupreeh post a 1.18 rating, the third best in his team, with an exceptional 1.30 impact rating across the 11 maps played in five matches.

“We had a lot of struggles with jetlag and energy in Sydney, we simply had a hard time to convert the timezones around, and it took a lot of our energy. I think we brought some of the frustration with us into the server. But then again, we lost to FaZe, who despite having a stand-in played a great event, and they deserved it. We still made top 2, which is hard enough nowadays with the amount of good teams there are.

“I said to the guys during our IEM Sydney debrief in the hotel room after the final that
‘I don't care if we lost, it doesn't matter. We made top 2, it happens, we can't win everything. The worst thing is if we let this bring us down. Forget about it, move on mentally. We are going to win in Dallas, I'm sure of it. The only reason we won't win in Dallas is if we don't allow ourselves to move on now.’ It Seems like it worked!”

The ESL Pro League Season 7 Finals were a particularly important moment in dupreeh’s career, as he was finally awarded a much sought-after MVP award after his team’s run to first place. The 25-year-old entry-fragger had a 1.31 rating (+55), 88.7 ADR, a 1.38 impact rating, and 10 out of 11 maps with a 1.00+ rating, making him incredibly reliable throughout the event. Astralis then chained another tournament victory at the ECS Season 5 Finals, although there dupreeh gave up the spotlight and hit one of his two lowest points of the year with a 0.98 rating across six maps

“It was a great... great relief, actually, haha! I don’t know why, but since I had never gotten an MVP award, I felt like I had something to prove to myself. I sometimes put a lot of pressure on myself in terms of wanting a lot of MVP medals, but I also have to accept that the race for MVP medals is extremely tough and that the margin of error is very slim. But it was good, it was really, really good.”

After the dip in performance at the ECS Season 5 Finals came ESL One Cologne, where dupreeh was able to shine once again with a 1.26 rating (1.24 impact), earning another EVP mention, although his team was unable to follow up on the two previous victories, going out in the semi-finals to the eventual champions, Natus Vincere, in a three map affair. Following the event in Cologne came the last tournament of the season, ELEAGUE Premier, at the Turner Studios in Atlanta, GA, where Astralis were able to seal a fourth win after beating the likes of MOUZ and Liquid. Individually, dupreeh was third in his team with a 1.16 rating, which earned him a third EVP mention before the player break.

“Losing to Na`Vi in Cologne felt like losing to FaZe in Sydney. We played a team that simply played better than we did on that day, and they deserved it. Individually, I think we were a little off during Cologne, but as a team, we still functioned quite well. Our map pool at that point was still strong, but it could use a facelift in some situations and I think we realized what to improve after that loss.

"We always debrief after tournaments, discussing what was good and what was bad, what needs to be improved... That being said, we do it both when we win and when we lose. I think its an important dialogue to have, so everyone is on the same page. We knew we were close to having ‘an era’, but we decided not to put energy into it because that would just create too much pressure. We wanted to continue the same way we had up until this point."

“Currently, I think we have a great mental advantage over Liquid. I’m not saying they are weak mentally, but losing to the same opponent over and over again, and being so close multiple times, is just rough. I remember how it was back in the days, when we could NEVER beat NiP no matter how close we got. We would always stumble in the end, and it took years before we eventually got over the hump.

"Regarding play styles, we are very similar to Liquid. I think we approach the game and the way the game should be played very much the same, so I think both parties understand how to play against each other, we just have a few advantages here and there, and I think that is what has made us so dominant when you look at this specific matchup. All respect to the guys from Liquid, they are great bunch of skilled and talented guys.”

The second half of the year saw Astralis have one of the most dominant seasons in the game’s history, as they went on a tear winning several events. The first one, however, was a stone in the road for dupreeh and his team, as they went on to lose against local rivals North in the DreamHack Masters Stockholm final. At the event in Sweden, dupreeh posted another 1.16 rating, the third best in his team, and managed to win 5 1vsX situation, something out of the ordinary for the entry-fragger. He would go on to win the same amount of clutches at the FACEIT Major, a tournament the Danes won without breaking a sweat, sweeping all opposition in the playoffs on their way to winning the million dollar event. dupreeh was named a Major EVP in London thanks to his 1.24 rating and 1.24 impact rating during his team’s 10-map run.

“The rivalry against North is strong and I think we wanted to prove, a little too much, that they were no match for us. I think we wanted to win too much. They had a super good tournament and clearly deserved to win. They had prepared really well and had a good understanding of how to approach us. I think when you end up in these type of derby matchups everyone puts in a bit of extra energy to beat the opponent—this time around, they just did a better job than us! However, Stockholm wasn’t an event we ‘wanted’ to win, as it was mainly a practice tournament going into the Major. We always want to win, that's always the goal, but we ended up not winning, so we accepted the fact that the main purpose was to practice for the Major. That way, despite the very disappointing loss, we quickly overcame and started to debrief and prepare for the major coming up right after.

“I was confident throughout the entire Major. We could beat everyone and when we played our best CS I don’t think anyone, at least at that given time, was remotely close to us. When we hit our shots as individuals and made good decisions, combined with our great team play, we could pretty much take on any player and any team. We had surely done our preparations for every single game. We used every possible tactic we had saved for this specific tournament and we stayed focused throughout it all until we lifted that trophy. Hands down, it is the best tournament we have ever played.”

Following the impressive Major run, Astralis got another victory, this time at the more casual BLAST Pro Series Istanbul, where dupreeh picked up yet another EVP mention thanks to a 1.25 rating across seven maps. Another BLAST Pro Series event followed the one in Istanbul, but this time it would end as a complete downer for dupreeh. A stone’s throw from his home, at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen, he posted his worst numbers of the year, a 0.95 rating. He also had his only event below 70 ADR, with 69.3, and a year-low 0.83 impact. The 25-year-old only managed one map over 1.00 rating, against FaZe, in his team’s 3rd place finish.

“Lots of things went wrong [in Copenhagen], at least for me, personally. Let's start with the pressure-talk. I literally live a few hundred meters away from the arena. I can stand in my bedroom and look at the arena. I couldn’t wait to play in front of my family, my friends, and Denmark. Every time I walked outside my door, people would call me out and tell me how much they were looking forward to watching us play in the arena, even 2 months before the event. CS was literally everywhere in my life all of a sudden, and it just got to be too much.

“Combine that with my own expectations, that last year I had probably my best tournament ever there, so I probably expected myself to do even better, and when I realized I couldn’t perform the same way I did before, I couldn’t reset. I couldn’t find rest and it ended in the worst possible way. It was the most disappointing moment in my career, but also for me personally. I felt like I had given up, and that I had let everyone in the team down. It was rough.

“I had spent too much time on socials and being online, so I went to Chicago without using my phone for a few days, and I just allowed myself to relax. This was the first time I really felt my stressful job limiting me and making me feel bad. I had issues with my stomach and briefly started on medication, so I was very worried it could lead to something worse. I really tried to zone out and do things that could help me relax. Luckily, I know myself pretty well and I moved on fairly quickly.”

After the disappointing results in Copenhagen, Astralis picked themselves up, dusted themselves off, and went on to win the year out, starting with an event on North American soil: IEM Chicago. The tournament in the Windy City saw the Danes pick right back up where they had left off, and dupreeh went on to get another EVP mention after getting a 1.15 rating—tied for #1 in the team with device. The Danes lost to FaZe in the group stage, but they were able to redirect the ship with victories over MOUZ, fnatic, and finally over Liquid.

“Winning in Chicago was extremely important for me, but also for the team. After the disappointment in Copenhagen, it felt nice to redeem ourselves. Winning the nail biter against fnatic is a standout moment of 2018. It showed every aspect of Astralis. I’m very proud of that specific series.

“We didn’t change anything specific after Copenhagen, apart from relaxing a bit more as individuals. We needed a bit of time to swallow the disappointment, but we had some great talks about it, which proved instrumental in our last stretch of the season.”

Moving along, Astralis were able to convert online dominance into LAN dominance at the second event in a row on American soil, the ECS Season 6 Finals in Arlington, TX, where dupreeh was once again awarded an EVP mention after a performance that saw him end the tournament with a 1.10 rating. Following the event in Texas, the team flew home for another event on Danish soil, in Odense, the ESL Pro League Season 8 Finals. The tournament in Denmark was Astralis's chance to make history by becoming the first team to win the Intel Grand Slam. And they did, after crushing all opposition as they went 5-0, beating Liquid once again in the grand final. Individually, dupreeh didn't have his most impactful event of the year, but he had a solid 1.12 rating and played his part in his team’s victory.

“Winning in Odense, and winning the first Grand Slam ever, was more than just winning. We proved we could win on home soil, as people started to doubt we could perform when the pressure is at its highest. Being the first Intel Grand Slam champions was something very unique, as no one else has achieved it. It’s like winning the first Major ever. It was the ‘last thing’ that currently exists that we hadn’t achieved, and we wanted to be the first team to achieve it—so we did. I won it in front of my family and my friends. It meant the world to me. “

To close out the year came BLAST Pro Series Lisbon, a perfect bookend to round out the number of tournament wins for Astralis, 10, hitting double digits before going into the winter break. In Lisbon, dupreeh was named EVP for the eighth and final time, although statistically, he had his best event of the year, hitting a 1.39 rating (+59) with a 1.47 impact rating and an incredible 92.6 ADR across eight maps.

“We had a brief talk about the event before we left Denmark, and said that it would feel incredibly awesome to win the last event of the year, and afterward have a long holiday, so we really fought hard to win it. We wanted that double-digit trophy year more than ever. I didn’t do anything different from what I usually do, apart from relaxing more after the games.

“I think I've figured out that I need to allow myself to rest after the games instead of playing and playing and playing. Read a book, watch a movie, take a long bath, collect my thoughts and mentally prepare for the next challenge... I think that was probably a key factor and something I discovered in late 2018, so I have a good idea of what to bring in 2019. Ending the season with a strong performance makes me hungry to replicate it.

“I would be lying if I said I expected this year to be this successful, but I was confident, after a few tournaments, that we had figured out something very unique, and I was confident we would get a few trophies in 2018... And here we are, with 10 of them. Unreal.”

Why was dupreeh the 5th best player of 2018?

It is easy to see why dupreeh would be among the year’s best by looking at his 1.17 rating (tied for 4th place), especially considering he played 85% of maps against top 10 teams in his team’s deep runs at tournaments. On the CT side, dupreeh put up some of the highest numbers in the world with a 1.22 rating (5th highest), while shining in his entry-fragging role on the Terrorist side where he had the fifth highest percentage of opening duels won (49.7%) among players who attempt them at an above average rate.

The Danish rifler also had a 73.7% KAST (4th highest) thanks to his strong performances on both attack and defense, which along his +1.00 rating in 74.4% (5th highest) of the maps he played make him one of the most consistent players of 2018. The aforementioned consistency is obviously a big factor in his high placement, but it was the great peaks and impact that pushed him into the top 5, as he was the MVP at ESL Pro League Season 7 Finals and had strong cases to become MVP on six other occasions, including the FACEIT Major, IEM Chicago, and the BLAST Pro Series events in Istanbul and Lisbon.

dupreeh’s impact rating of 1.20, which is derived from multi-kills, opening kills, and clutches, is the fourth highest among top 20 players. On top of the impact is the fact that dupreeh performed particularly well in the most competitive events of the year, the two Majors and five events with all top 5 teams in attendance, where he averaged a 1.18 rating (5th highest).

What stopped him from placing higher? That everybody above him on the list was even more consistent and had even better performances on average when it mattered the most, at Big Event playoffs, where dupreeh averaged a 1.11 rating (10th overall).

"I have one goal each year as an individual, and that is to be a better version of myself than I was last year. I always aim to do better and to learn from my mistakes. I see myself, despite the silliness, as a billboard on which I add sticky notes all the time with things I want to learn and what I want to achieve, and I slowly peel them off as I get better.

"It's a visual thing I have learned to reflect upon, and that is how I keep track of what I need to improve and what I need to learn. Some things take ages to learn, some you might never learn, but as long as you do your best, that's all you can ask for.

"I reached top 5 this year, and I am extremely proud of myself. Next year, I want it to be top3, although I know the competition is insanely strong, so I have to do everything I can to try and achieve it. As a bandaid, I will always be proud of myself as long as I make the top 20."

Bold prediction:

dupreeh joins five other players in making Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali his bold prediction for a player that could be in next year’s top 20. The young Dane just signed for OpTic and is currently in Poland fighting for a spot at the upcoming IEM Katowice Major in February.

Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali

“I’m confident Ismail will do great this year, and he will make a name for himself, more than he has already done. He is talented and has a really great mindset when it comes to improving and learning, exactly what it takes to become a top tier player.”

Stay tuned to our Top 20 players of 2018 ranking powered by EGB.com and take a look at the Introduction article to learn more about how the players were selected.