Former CS:GO pro and current head coach, Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen, won’t renew his contract with Heroic, the 30-year-old announced today.
HUNDEN’s statement comes three weeks after it was reported that he’s Astralis’ top target to take the reins of the team if Danny “zonic” Sørensen leaves at the end of the year. Although HUNDEN confirmed he won’t stay on Heroic, the current length of his contract hasn’t been disclosed by either him or the Danish organization. He recently missed the action at IEM Cologne, the first premier CS:GO tournament to be played on LAN since the coronavirus pandemic started, for unknown reasons. Heroic filled his spot with its mental and performance coach Troels Robl and physical coach Kasper Straube.
“In the past few months, I have been in negotiations with Heroic about a contract renewal, but I have come to the realization that I wish to begin a new chapter of my career once my contract with Heroic expires,” HUNDEN said in his statement. The Danish tactician was one of the coaches banned by the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) in 2020 for exploiting the coach spectating bug. HUNDEN kept working for Heroic as an analyst and took over the head coach role again in April 2021 when his suspension expired.
HUNDEN feels that he and Heroic were a “perfect match,” but he said the “recent turn of events is deeply regrettable.” The Danish coach revealed that he’s been accused of sharing Heroic’s strats with other teams, which he denied.
“Recent rumors claim that I have shared Heroic’s stratbook. This I can categorically deny. I have the biggest respect for Heroic, and I would never want to harm the team or in any way affect them negatively,” HUNDEN said. “The material I have shared is anti-strat material of opponents. This material was shared with colleagues from other teams in the context of sparring. Knowledge sharing is essential for me as a coach in respect to staying in the loop and developing. At no point in time has Heroic’s own tactics been shared or discussed.”
It’s unclear at this point if HUNDEN will keep coaching Heroic after the summer player break is over, given the accusations and his wish to move forward when his contract expires. He’s been a part of the organization since April 2020 and helped the team win notable tier-one tournaments such as ESL One Cologne Europe in August 2020 and, most recently, ESL Pro League season 13 in April 2021.
At time of writing, Heroic hasn’t made a statement yet.
