dupreeh, though, was no longer the star of the team. It was young gun Kjaerbye, not device or dupreeh, who had dupreeh’s old entry fragging role and the most influence in the major final in Atlanta. Now the lurker, dupreeh was reduced to be the third star in the squad. He was still performing to a high level but yearned for the impact he used to have heading into bomb sites first.
And when Kjaerbye fell foul of inconsistency, Astralis did not pack the same punch, losing to Gambit at the next Major of 2017 in a massive semi-final upset. 6 months later Kjaerbye shocked his teammates by announcing his departure to North, believing he could regain his Major-MVP form with his old in-game-leader MSL.
Astralis scrambled for a replacement, with the two names on the final shortlist being k0nfig and Magisk. Magisk won out, partly because his preferred role was the aggressive lurker, freeing dupreeh to return to Kjaerbye’s role, entry-fragging like he had in TSM.
By removing a player the team did not even want to cut, Astralis freed dupreeh to take his place back as Astralis’ second star, and Magisk’s consistency gave them a trio of stars as good as any in world Counter-Strike. Astralis built up slowly, but after a win at DreamHack Marseille and second place at IEM Sydney, the squad would win twelve of the next sixteen events. Astralis had got the era they had threatened to have in 2017, and dupreeh was at his career peak on an individual level too. He won another Major in London, and Astralis went into IEM Katowice 2019 as heavy favourites.
This is the story of the player dupreeh, but the human being, Peter, was going through a lot too. While Astralis constructed a dominant reign, dupreeh was powerless to help a father whose health was declining. He was travelling to tournaments once or twice a month, throwing himself into Counter-Strike as he had in 2010, trying with all his might to distract himself from his world collapsing around him.
In early 2019, his father’s health reached breaking point. He was moved into a hospice, and dupreeh moved back home to say his goodbyes. Due to depart for Katowice on Tuesday, dupreeh had to decide whether he was going to pull out of the tournament, but his father, for one last time, told him to pursue his dream:
“I want you to go to the tournament. Good luck.”
His father passed away on Monday, and on Tuesday dupreeh departed for Katowice, his father’s last words to him ringing in his ears.
Once more, dupreeh had to escape with CS. He warned his teammates that his performance might drop off but it turns out there was no need. He and Astralis were impervious in Katowice, losing just one map all event, to Renegades in the group stage.
