Alleged cheating has s1mple blasting Heroic at ESL Pro League

William Davis Published 11/09/2021

Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev is busy playing at ESL Pro League Season 14 but he still found the time to take a swipe at a team embroiled in a cheating scandal.

Natus Vincere and Heroic had an extremely close match in the ESL Pro League Season 14 semifinals. After a narrow Na’Vi victory, the analyst desk asked s1mple if he had any thoughts on his opponents. While he complimented their skills on the server, s1mple couldn’t help but taunt Heroic’s players over cheating allegations directed against the team.

“Oh, just uhh…who? They played good, they played good. I don’t know what’s going on with this team…except CS. But overall, they were prepared,” answered s1mple.

s1mple’s interview is even funnier considering the match’s razor-sharp scoreline. Natus Vincere barely won in the 89-round best-of-three. The decider on Nuke was particularly close. Heroic managed to claw an even scoreline but a poor buy attempt at 14-14 was the squad’s undoing. s1mple comments hint that his interview answer hinted towards Heroic’s ongoing coaching scandal.

Some of Heroic’s players stand accused of complicity with the infamous coach bug that former coach Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen and dozens of other CSGO coaches abused. Heroic’s previous coach was recently banned for two years for attempting to share anti-strategies against Heroic with other teams. HUNDEN accused his former players after being found guilty by the ESIC. HUNDEN’s ban is two years, but it could become shorter due to this plea. Heroic’s players could receive similar-length bans if found guilty.

Natus Vincere has a chance to win the third $1 million Intel Grand Slam by winning ESL Pro League. Team Vitality is also aiming to claim the $175,000 grand prize instead, along with a $100,000 Grand Slam denial bonus. The ESL Pro League Season 14 grand final starts September 12, 10:00 a.m. ET.

Did Heroic lose its sponsors?

Heroic’s website has removed all of its sponsor listings and the players are wearing sponsorless jerseys for ESL Pro League Season 14. However, Heroic did not lose its sponsors due to the team’s current cheating scandal.

The organization recently changed ownership and the new CEO is saying he chose for Heroic to drop all of its sponsors. The organization’s leadership will look for new partnerships after the cheating scandal is resolved.

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