Hunden retires, moves to new coaching role at Heroic

Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen has announced that he has retired from professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive as a player, and will transition into a coaching role with Heroic.

The vetrab player spent the his last months of active playing with the newly-formed MAD Lions squad before being replaced as the team’s in-game leader by Asger “AcilioN” Larsen.

HUNDEN took his removal from the team he had helped lead to FLASHPOINT 1, asking those speculating about his removal and purported feud with AcilioN to stop:

Early reports had indicated that that HUNDEN would stay with the MAD Lions organization, but his addition to Heroic was announced in a blog post from Heroic’s official website. Heroic looked primed for success after the November addition of Kasper “cadian” Møller, but the roster suffered a setback when its planned sale to Counter-Strike newcomer Funplus Phoenix fell through. Heroic’s Patrick “es3tag” Hansen would go on to become Astralis’ sixth player in its new experiementation with the concept, leaving Heroic in a bind and the transfer to FPX in shambles.

HUNDEN leaves behind an almost six-year carrer as a Counter-Strke pro, but the tranistion into a coaching role is the next obvious step for a player whose leadership inside and outside the server has been prasied by fellow players and organizations alike.

HUNDEN will now join forces with cadian, a well-respected in-game leader in his own right, in helming a Heroic squad that has recently added René “TeSeS” Madsen and Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen to fill its open spots. The new roster and coach will make their debut at the Elisa Invitational on May 1.

The regional tournament should provide insight into what the new look Heroic can do, with attendees all right around Heroic’s current skill level. GODSENT, ENCE, North, and Digitas will all be in attendance, alongside regional teams like Nordavind, Apeks, and Kova.

HUNDEN seemed genuinely happy after the news was public:

“Finally I took the step that I’ve wanted to take for so long… Im looking forward to do what im best at, and that is using my brain and [creating]a masterplan to make Heroic shine, and finally make them go deep in the rankings again,” HUNDEN said.

Both HUNDEN and Heroic will get their chance on May 1 in their opening match against North.