acoR on being dropped by TSM: "The owner didn't want to keep us anymore and we just got cut"

Frederik "acoR" Gyldstrand is one of the stand-ins at IEM Dallas 2025 as he's temporarily replacing GamerLegion's starting AWPer Henrich "sl3nd" Hevesi, who missed the event due to visa issues. The event started well for acoR and GamerLegion as they took down 3DMAX in the opening round of group A today, May 19th.

Dust2.us' Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore caught up with acoR after their first victory at IEM Dallas, and asked acoR what this opportunity to briefly reunite with GamerLegion means to him, his turbulent departure from TSM, and what the AWPer thought when TSM reportedly targeted a North American roster at the start of 2025 despite recently dispatching their Danish roster.

The full interview can be found below on YouTube, with key snippets underneath.

On a personal level, how are you feeling about your own form? You spent some time on TSM's bench, and you were just recently released into free agency. Is there a bit of rustiness from being away from the game in all of 2025?

Yeah, definitely a little bit of rustiness. I'm not fully up to my normal level, but I feel it coming slowly, and I'm preparing every night by playing DM. I was up until 2 AM today, even though we had an early wake-up as well. So yeah, I'm slowly coming back.

You're here in place of sl3nd, who was unable to make it due to visa issues. How recently did you know you were going to be standing in for GamerLegion. Did you have enough time to prep? How long did the team have to get you ready for Dallas?

I had a little bit more than a week or one and a half weeks maybe, where I got asked if I wanted to come. But, preparation-wise, I had to prep a little myself from home, we didn't have practice at home at all because the GamerLegion guys were in Astana for the PGL tournament.

So, we've been practicing here, we had five practice games. And that's all we had, and then I've been having talks with everyone, like showing all the nades they use on every map, and all the strats going through because there are a lot of set nades, etc. I have to [throw] them in specific timings and stuff. I've just been trying to set up and trying to slot into the guys.

Moving the focus back to your previous team TSM, we saw the squad get benched following the Shanghai Major RMR, only five months into it. You said that you were benched for budget reasons. Was it a surprise to you and your teammates on TSM that they pulled the plug so soon after assembling the Danish roster?

We had a feeling that if we didn't make the Major, there might be a chance they were going to cut us. But, at the same time, as an org, I would think if you're signing a roster for two years, then you would also have the budget for the next two years.

That's just how I would think about it, but apparently not. The owner didn't want to keep us anymore, and from what I heard, we just got cut.

After being benched on TSM, we saw rumors that TSM was actually targeting a North American roster at the start of the year. Did that surprise you based on what TSM had told you when they benched your team? 'Was that a shock to you?

I feel like we did get high salaries compared to our level. Coming from GamerLegion, we got low salary compared to our level. So, it's a big difference.

I could see the reasoning why they wanted to get someone who get less salary, and hopefully could do the same, or if they wanted an NA team because they're an NA org. But, I don't know, the whole benching situation just felt kind of weird, like in a very fast way.

Editor's note: TSM ended up not signing the NA roster they were targeting.

An S-Tier LAN like IEM Dallas is a great place for a player in free agency to show themselves off. Where are you looking in terms of the next step in your career? Is it to go back to the Danish scene, or is it to pursue an international English-speaking lineup?

I don't have a preference, I actually feel like it felt better on GamerLegion compared to TSM, if I'm being honest. Of course, it's nice to speak in your mother tongue, but I just felt like we had a greater time in GamerLegion.

At the same time, there are always more opportunities on an international level because you can pick from whatever country you want as long as they speak English on a decent level.

Stay tuned to Dust2.us in the coming days, as we'll have plenty of interviews coming out during IEM Dallas 2025!