Heroic Is Looking To Save Their Reputation With A New Lineup
The Danish organisation known as Heroic was originally one of the top contenders in competitive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). Now they’re struggling to keep up with their opponents this year and have decided to swap their players around for good.
Heroic won both ESL One Cologne and the DreamHack Fall Open last year, making them both young and extremely successful. Their fan base quickly grew overnight, along with respect from other teams around the world.
Both Europe and North America were shocked by the impact that Heroic made after beating teams such as Astralis and Team Vitality. After reaching a large number of achievements, Heroic’s roster began to slow down and clearly lacked their aggressive yet skilful playstyle. Now they have two new players looking to turn things around for the team and put Heroic back on top.
HEROIC'S PERFORMANCE IN 2020
Despite making their debut in 2016, Heroic broke their very own personal records by winning four events along with an S-Tier title last year. They were on track to shutting down the most dominant orgs in the world after beating Vitality in back to back events.
Heroic started off strong, mostly competing in the B-Tier scene earning wins from both HomeSweetHome and LOOT.BET Season 6. After pocketing $60,000 from the best amateur teams in the world, Heroic moved on to even bigger challenges.
They took home $150,000 from ESL One Cologne after beating Vitality in a straight forward 3-0 sweep. Two months later, they entered the ring at the DreamHack Fall Open and once again swiped the victory from Vitality.
By the end of the year, they brought in nearly $400,000 and, most importantly, put their name on the map of CS:GO. Their success story eventually hit a wall after failing to perform during the start of 2021.
NIKO'S DEBUT AND EXIT FROM THE TEAM
After two upsetting results from both cs_summit 7 and IEM World Champs, Heroic began to organise their roster. The first to go was their entry fragger Nikolaj "niko" Kristensen, who’s been with the team since April of last year. Niko originally joined Heroic back in 2016 and played with the org up until late 2018.
His return to the team last year was considered a victory for fans, casters, and a variety of professional analysts. Niko’s fast-paced skills were appreciated within the team, considering he was extremely confident in flooding.
A method where the entry fragger makes an impact play to secure the playing field for their team. Niko did exactly that but began to face issues during the start of this year. His performance began to fluctuate, but he wasn’t the only player who struggled on Heroic.
Click to enlargeB0RUP IS NEXT IN LINE
Support player Johannes "b0RUP" Borup made his way to Heroic the same day as niko after originally leaving the team back in 2019. After a short stint with FPX, b0RUP found himself playing with Heroic once again, and it definitely paid off.
His competitive career was nothing but success for the longest time until his spot on the team was being questioned. B0RUP won five events with Heroic and was by their side for the longest time. His services were nothing but the best until the org had to put their foot down and gamble on a new lineup.
With niko out the door, b0RUP was next in line, meaning he was pushed towards the bench and added to the transfer list. Both niko and b0RUP have yet to make public announcements regarding their departure, but they’re still active within the competitive scene. Hopefully, they can find their mojo once again and get back in with a legendary team.
COACHING ISSUES
One of the obvious issues within Heroic is their lack of a coaching staff. Their original lineup included Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen, who received an ESIC ban back in September of 2020. His participation within the spectator bug led to his ban, but it was eventually reduced due to his input on the issue.
HUNDEN’s ban will be lifted this April, if Heroic even wants to keep him on board by then. He played CS:GO at a professional level for ten years and only started coaching in 2020. HUNDEN coached Heroic throughout their strongest year yet.
On top of his already strict ban, HUNDEN is also not allowed to coach within the next five Majors hosted by Valve. An issue like that can lead to an extremely bad reputation since teams dream of competing at the biggest event in the world.
In the meantime, HUNDEN has been supporting his team on social media day in and day out. His actions might’ve restricted his coaching ability, but HUNDEN still plans on staying active within the competitive scene.
With a weak placement at IEM Champs and a new lineup, who knows what will happen to Heroic. They have a lot of talent and investors that have continued to back them throughout various events. If Heroic can pull some strings and get the team rolling, then they'll definitely have another shot at holding a trophy or two someday.
Images via Heroic