HUNDEN denies strat-sharing rumors, confirms leaving Heroic

Coach Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen has officially left Heroic after denying allegations of leaking the team’s strategies to competing organizations.

Danish CSGO legend HUNDEN has announced his departure from the Heroic CSGO organization. He was not listed as a part of the squad for IEM Cologne, which hinted at an imminent departure. Heroic currently has mental and performance Coach Troels “robl” Robl and Physical Coach Kasper Straube listed for their CSGO roster. HUNDEN will look for a new coaching opportunity in CSGO, potentially with Astralis.

Immediately preceding the announcement, rumors began to circulate that HUNDEN had leaked the Heroic playbook to other teams. HUNDEN claims that these accounts are largely exaggerated. He claims to have only discussed strategies that Heroic opponents came up with to counter them. These strats belong to other teams and were learned by practicing against other professional squads. He also stated his willingness to work with the ESIC and Valve if anything serious does come of these rumors.

HUNDEN most recently played for MAD Lions in early 2020. He retired from professional play for the online era. He joined Heroic as a coach three months later. The former Counter-Strike: Source professional was a major part of the team’s 2020 dominance.

Which CSGO team will HUNDEN coach next?

In his goodbye message to Heroic’s fans, HUNDEN wrote that was actually pursuing a contract extension with the Heroic organization before deciding to “begin a new chapter” of his career. This implies that he will be heading to a new team sooner rather than later. In fact, he might already have a deal set up with the strongest CSGO team in Denmark, Astralis.

The timing of HUNDEN leaving Heroic coincides with the official departure of Danny “zonic” Sørensen from Astralis. The premier Danish team may be looking to rebuild its lineup before the PGL Major in Stockholm. Considering HUNDEN’s historical connection with the Danish CSGO community, a move to Astralis’ staff seems logical. However, the recent allegations may or may not impact his short-term future. Heroic is potentially pursuing a legal remedy against HUNDEN and if that winds up being serious, it could carry serious consequences for his career.