Steven R. May 10, 2019
Heroic has had a rough month and is making some changes to its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster as a result.
The team announced on Twitter that Daniel "mertz" Mertz has been deactivated from the team’s active roster. Heroic then announced that Niels Christian "NaToSaphiX" Sillassen has been added to the lineup to replace him.
“I’ve been staying patient for a few months now, but it’s time to get back on the grind,” NaToSaphiX said in a statement on the Heroic website. “I’ve found the team I want to commit to and I’m hoping for a long, lasting and successful journey with Heroic!”
Heroic has long stood out as one of the better CS:GO teams in Europe, but has had serious trouble qualifying for prominent events in recent months. This started in December with the team washing out of the closed qualifiers to the Katowice Europe Minor and has played out on many occasions in the months since, with Heroic falling short of such events as ECS Season 7 and DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019.
The team landed on its first big stage this year at Intel Extreme Masters XIV Sydney, but was among the first eliminations from the event. Though Mertz wasn’t the sole reasons for the team’s early exit from Australia, he certainly didn’t have the sort of impact the team was hoping for.
Replacing Mertz is NaToSaphiX. Best known for his time with Sprout, he has enjoyed decent success playing in various European and CIS events. He left Sprout in December alongside teammate Martin "PERCY" Wessel and has competed with LPSP! In recent months.
Heroic represents a major step up in his career and it will be interesting to see how he stacks up against stiffer competition.
As for Mertz, no details were given on what the future holds for him. Heroic’s announcement succinctly noted that he has been deactivated indefinitely. Mertz has not yet made a statement of his own on the move.
The new Heroic lineup is debuting in the qualifiers to ESL One Cologne.