Gizmy on the Astralis players: “I used to be their biggest hater, and now they’re my teammates.”
100 Thieves captain Jack “Gizmy” von Sprekelsen, in an interview at the 2026 Esports World Cup for CS2, talked about adjusting to his new team, shared insights into working with the team’s coaching staff, and described his previous attitude toward Astralis’ star-studded roster.
On adapting to 100 Thieves
I had to go back to the very basics. I couldn’t immediately apply what I’d learned at Monte here. We had to focus on the opening rounds—we’d worked on that with my previous team a year ago, and now I’d mistakenly taken those actions for granted. During matches, it became clear that in a standard default situation, some of the guys might simply not know the proper protocol. So, even though I was fully prepared from the very beginning, I still paid a lot of attention to details like that. I focused on this issue, and now everything runs much more smoothly.
On working with the coaches
I’m doing pretty much the same thing as I did at Monte. The thing is, gla1ve and assistant coach zander were totally fine with me rolling out my own system to start with and seeing how things went. And so far, things are going great. I’m still very involved in scouting opponents and pre-match preparation, but they obviously contribute a lot to the game plan and how the team should play in specific rounds. So working with them is really cool.
On my past relationship with Astralis
Yeah, back when gla1ve and device were playing for that legendary Astralis roster, I was still in school. I don’t know if you’ve seen that 100 Thieves video where the guys tracked down some of my old acquaintances—well, back then I was a huge Astralis hater. They even still have screenshots where I wrote something like, “I’m praying Astralis finally loses,” and stuff like that. In short, I was a die-hard hater, and now they’re my teammates. They’re great people, so I’m really happy to be playing with them now.
100 Thieves lost to PARIVISION in a decisive group stage match at the 2026 Esports World Cup in CS:GO, falling 0–2 on maps in a best-of-3 series. Jack “Gizmy” von Sprekelsen’s team finished in 25th–32nd place at the event and earned $10,000 in prize money.
Photo: BLAST.
