Alexander “Altekz” Givskov burst onto the scene as an impressive replacement for Andreas “Xyp9x” Hojsleth last year and has since gone from strength to strength while playing for Preasy. 

With the team going through multiple roster changes in recent months and now finding themselves orgless the young Dane is somewhat lost in limbo, but he isn’t letting that get him down.

Following his win in the Showmatch at the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, we caught up with Altekz to talk about playing in front of the Danish crowd, learning from Astralis and Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen, and the future of the now ex-Preasy squad.

Bo3: You just played in front of the Danish crowd in the Showmatch, how was that?

Altekz: It was a nice experience, I would say. There was many people cheering for us and it's a dream for every Danish player to play in front of the Royal Arena fans.

Bo3: You got the win as well, was it easier than you thought it might be playing against a proper team?

Altekz: Maybe, I mean, we were trolling a lot so it's not like we were tryharding that much. But I would say that the nerves were less than I thought they would be, it was actually really nice, I enjoyed it a lot. We had two young guys with us as well and they also talked about the nerves but they also said it was less than they thought it would be.

Bo3: salazar mentioned feeling nervous as well, and obviously, a lot of the players in the Showmatch had never experienced anything like that, so was it something you was expecting going into it or was it just a case of it being in front of the home crowd in such a big arena?

Altekz: For me personally, I wasn't thinking too much about it. I've played in a few stages now and every time it's the same, you get a rush because it's a lot of people and it's loud, you can hear everyone. For me, it's the same, I've played in smaller arenas where there weren't so many people but it gave me the same feeling. It can be 1000 people or 15000, however many there were here, it's always the same feeling.

Bo3: Let's move away from the Showmatch and to your actual team; you've just lost a player at ex-Preasy, how's it feeling in the team right now?

Altekz: I would say it's a bit chaotic at the moment, we can't really find a permanent fifth player and we're playing with a stand-in right now that we're looking forward to playing with more but it's hard when you can't really sign him.

We're trying to figure out what we should do next, we have some tournaments coming up soon and hopefully, after that, we can settle a bit more so we can get together and get some work done.

Bo3: Is it frustrating because you can't get that set thing going or are you managing to push through?

Altekz: We're trying our best, but of course, it's hard when you lose a player every two or three months because you have to start over every time. We're just trying to stay humble, stay committed, and try to get the best out of every situation we are in.

Bo3: What was it like playing with dupreeh while you were together? 

Altekz: I played with some of the other old Astralis guys as well and every time I play with them it's just a nice feeling, they're the big Danish names.

It was a pleasure to play with dupreeh though, he's a really great guy, a funny guy as well, he put some nice humour into the team as well, on that point it was really, really nice. In game, we tried to figure out how to play with him, but it was really tough because we didn't really have a real AWPer. So, in game, not the best, but outside of the game it was a pleasure.

Bo3: You mentioned being on Astralis, and from the outside, it seemed like you had a bit of a rough time with Astralis because it was a transitional period for them; looking back on it now, how are you summing up that time on the main team?

Altekz: It was a learning experience. I learned a lot from the players and the pressure you're under when you're playing for Astralis.

I think it helped me mentally a lot in terms of how to always be there when you're playing an official game. Looking back, individually, I could've done better, and I think if I was in the same position now I would've done a lot better, but for me, even though it didn't end up going that well, it was still important for me to be there because it's helped me a lot gaining that experience for my current team.

Bo3: Do you think things would've gone differently if you had the time with Preasy before Astralis or would you not have been able to perform as you have on Preasy without that time?

Altekz: I think my time with Preasy would have been a lot worse if I hadn't been with Astralis before that. But, I also think I would play a lot better if I was on Astralis now. 

For me, I think it's good how it went because I came from a really low point on Astralis Talent where we weren't even top 100 two years ago and suddenly went all the way from that to the main team in six months or so and that was a great experience, I think we did alright in the situation we were in.

Bo3: In terms of the future, we've just seen br0 sign for Astralis, something he's said was his dream to do; maybe it's your dream to do so in the future as well, but what do you see your future being? Where do you want to be in a year or two years time?

Altekz: For me, hopefully, just be in a better spot playing at the tier one events, I miss that a lot. I got a little feeling of it in Romania at the RMR but I just miss playing on stages and being out there every time a tournament is going on. 

So for me, the next two years is about building up a good team to at least be top 30, top 20 maybe, so we're always there. That would be my goal. Also playing in Majors, of course, I think that's every player's dream. I would love one day to win a Major, probably not in the next two years but I would like to qualify for some Majors in that time.

Bo3: You're one of Denmark's brightest prospects, but outside of yourself, who else do you think should be considered to be the future of Danish CS?

Altekz: I think from the Showmatch, of course, ECSTATIC are all really solid players, but also Chr1zN from MOUZ NXT, he's a great young guy who is really humble and he's grown up really fast. He's 17 but when you're talking to him it's like talking to an adult. I think, for him as well, the next two years will be about qualifying for Majors as well. That's at least something that I'm looking forward to for him.

Bo3: When you say he's mature, is that something that being in an academy team instils in you that you wouldn't get if you played in a smaller tier three organisation?

Altekz: Yeah, I think so, they have a lot more material to work with. I'm not sure how it is with MOUZ, but from what I've heard they have a lot of great people behind them working with them and helping them a lot, we had the same with Astralis, some very great people who helped me grow up because I was also probably not the most mature player three years ago. It helped me a lot as well, and I think if I just played on some random Danish team it wouldn't have been the same because we wouldn't have had the same material.

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