Valdemar "valde" Bjørn Vangså is a rifler for North who helped the Danish squad score a first place finish at DreamHack Montreal less than a month after joining the team back in August of 2017.

North joins the likes of Faze Clan, SK Gaming and Astralis this Friday for the start of ELEAGUE's Boston Major. Before his games in Atlanta, valde took the time to speak with theScore esports about the upcoming Major, working with 1.6 legends in North and his rise pro play after being discovered by gla1ve.

How were your holidays? Other than a giant Toblerone, did you receive any notable gifts?

I got a watch and a bracelet from my lovely girlfriend but my family isn’t the biggest, so I didn’t receive a large amount of presents.

Eating healthy again after Christmas starts tomorrow... but today im with my new best friend 😍 pic.twitter.com/ohub3uQiNK — valde (@Officialvalde) December 26, 2017

With 2017 behind us, let’s look back on the year. You transitioned from Heroic to North, a big org for Denmark and indeed the rest of the CS world. What’s your summation of the year? What were other notable milestones for you?

During 2017 I actually achieved several personal milestones. I got to improve as an individual but also as a teamplayer and I managed to get myself onto a team that ranked 3rd in the world when we were at our highest — something that I’ve never tried before and then I obviously got to win my first “real” international title when we won DreamHack Montreal. Other than that I think I gained a lot of valuable experience that I can use further on in my career so all in all, 2017 was a really great year for me.

You guys ended the year on a low note at ESL Pro League Season 6 with a last place finish and you said that it was a low point for the team. What went wrong for the team there? You mentioned the losses during the pistol round being an issue, but what were maybe some other problems the team ran into?

Everything is the short answer. We couldn’t win any pistol rounds, the spirit in the team was at an all time low and nothing seemed to work out for us. I think we have been stuck between trying to play two different playstyles over the past few months. We’ve been trying a really structured style and then a much looser style and we eventually ended up with a really bad mix which resulted in us not doing any of them properly. That’s probably the best way I can put it. But since Pro League we’ve had some really thorough team discussions where we tried to get to the root of our instability and inconsistency so hopefully we can show a much improved and much more dangerous North at the Major that is hungry for the title.

You’re a fairly young competitor and have only been in the scene for two years, but now you’re already attending your first Major. What do you have to say about your rise?

That’s correct. I haven’t been on the scene for that long, so I still try to suck up all the experience that I possibly can. I think my rise from a nobody and then on to the professional level has been really fast but it was always something that I within myself knew that I was capable of. So to me it comes as no surprise but every now and then you do still think to yourself that you have the best job in the world, so I try my best to enjoy every single day I play.

You actually have an odd origin story in CS, where you were discovered by gla1ve after meeting him at a random party. Do you think you’d still be a CS pro without that moment?

Yes, I think I would still be a professional — it would’ve maybe taken me a little longer to achieve that status but if you have the talent, the dedication and the personality I think it’s only a matter of time before you get discovered. So if you’re a newcomer out there, don’t ask anyone of how to become a professional, just focus on playing and improving. Doesn’t matter if it’s FACEIT, Matchmaking or whatever, just play, play, play and eventually someone will see the potential in you if you stay humble.

Many of the players on North are young talents as well and you guys brought in two notable Danish 1.6 CS legends into the team. Alexander "ave" Holdt came in as the coach for the Academy team and analyst for you guys, then later Jonas "whiMp" Svendsen as the org’s director of esports. What it’s like having those former players beside you in the team? What impact do they bring?

They bring a lot of experience but also respect. It’s easier to work with people you respect and since they have been professionals themselves, they know what we go through and thus can relate to us players in a much better way than a guy with non-professional experience. A guy like whiMp also just has a personality that affects all the rest of us in such a positive manner, that it’s impossible not to like him and ave is a really clever person who’s helping us with all the anti-stratting, demo watching etc. so being surrounded by these legends every day simply makes it more fun going to work.

2018 is gonna be a good year 🤘 Coached and managed by whiMp and ave says enough 😈 https://t.co/cH3qDCT622 — valde (@Officialvalde) January 8, 2018

Going back to the Major, since it’s your first one, what are your personal expectations there? Do you believe there will be more pressure because it’s a Major?

Of course there will be more pressure — but I like it that way. It’s more fun when there’s something at stake. My personal expectations is to retain our Legend status and make my first top 8 at a Major. It would mean the world to me, but also to the team but we won’t just settle for Top 8. We want the title and we’ve been practicing hard in order to reach that goal.