After Astralis went out in the quarterfinals of IEM Dallas, Christian Møss "Buzz" Andersen sat down with us to talk about his team. We spoke about the team’s recent improvements, environment, and expectations going into the next season.

ESL | Helena Kristiansson

Just to get started, your time at the event is finished in the quarterfinals. How do you feel overall about how you guys played here?

Buzz: I feel like overall, looking at the tournament, it was a decent tournament for us, but I feel like we could have done better. We know that we could have played better against ENCE and Mousesports. So that hurts a bit, but I think, overall, it was a decent tournament. But of course, we would have liked to go further.

Going in, did you guys have any specific expectations or goals for the team?

Buzz: Not really any specific ones. I think our goal was to play as well as we know we can and that we've been doing in practice and stay competitive in the games. I think we did that, so that is what it is.

In 2023, you guys have been improving a lot with CCT wins and second place at the Brazy Party. Do you think there is any specific reason you guys have been on this upward trend?

Buzz: We did some roster changes with Altekz instead of Xyp9x, and I think we have a couple of coaches and a nice in-game leader that's working hard, and all of the players working hard to keep improving every day.

You joined Astralis at the end of 2022. This has been your first year doing big international tournaments. Usually, you were just on AGF, Masonic, or playing on smaller teams. What has this first year been like for you?

Buzz: It's been very exciting. It's way different. I would say usually, on my old teams, it was way more online. Now, it's way more LAN, and also we are always playing all the online tournaments together from our office. So, it's a very different thing. You spend way more time with your teammates in real life and get way closer to them. So that's really fun and, of course, you get better opponents.

As Astralis, you guys have your facility, you have coaching staff, and you work together a lot as a team. Is there anything in particular you do as an individual player outside of things like deathmatch to work on stuff on your own?

Buzz: Yeah, I mean there's a lot of demo watching and of course, individual playing like FACEITs or shooting bots or playing deathmatch and stuff. I think outside the game, it's also very important to stay healthy and make sure that you also do something other than playing Counter-Strike. You can play Counter-Strike 24/7 and go crazy. So, I think it's important to relax. When you have time off, use that time.

What do you like to do to relax?

Buzz: It can be very different things. Either just staying home, otherwise maybe going out with some friends, staying in with some friends, having fun. I think that can be relaxing as well. Not necessarily relaxing, but just doing something different.

That makes sense. In your first year here, how would you describe the team culture or the atmosphere at Astralis? It's a well-known, very big team.

Buzz: I think it's very nice. I feel like everyone on the team is pretty close with each other. Everyone is talking well with each other. I can also talk with players outside the game and outside of the practice hours. So that's very nice. It was pretty easy for me to come in, and I think we also have some very good performance coaches to kind of help us stay together as a unit or a big family, so yeah, but I think it's great.

Cool. How do you feel about where you guys are as a team right now compared to when Altekz first came in and compared to what you think the potential of this team is?

Buzz: I think the potential is very big. I think you can just see in this tournament we have so much more to build on and get better at, but I feel like we know we can play better and some games we do and I think the potential is there to win tournaments.

ESL | Luc Bouchon

You've recently come out of playing very heavily in just the Danish scene. What do you feel is the state of the scene there? Do you think it's in a good place? Do you think it's got room to grow or just how do you view Danish Counter-Strike in general?

Buzz: I think it's gonna grow, but actually I don't know. Right now it's looking kind of rough, like some orgs are closing, like Copenhagen Flames, AGF, and Tricked. Like, many decent orgs in Denmark are closing. But I think it's more something to do with their economy. But I feel like there are still so many players in Denmark. It will keep growing, I think.

Even though you guys are out here, in just about a week you will be playing in Washington. How do you feel going into that event? Do you have anything specific you want to do there?

Buzz: Yeah, I mean, of course, we want to go there to win. We are just trying to completely reset after yesterday and just take what we can from the match and use it to get better quickly and then just move on and have full focus on Washington. But yeah, we're going there to win, hopefully.

We would like to thank Buzz for taking the time to talk with us and, though Astralis did not reach the playoffs of BLAST Washington, we hope to see them come back stronger next season!

You can keep up with Buzz on his Instagram and Twitter