Heroic’s CS:GO players Casper “cadiaN” Møller, René “TeSeS” Madsen, and Martin “stavn” Lund, as well as their former teammate Johannes “b0RUP” Borup, who now plays for MAD Lions, put out a nearly 35-minute long video today talking about their former coach Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen’s accusations that the team knew he was using the coach spectator bug that got him banned in 2020.
The video was released one day after the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) cleared cadiaN, TeSeS, stavn, and b0RUP since it couldn’t find “anywhere near enough evidence” that the players were involved in the bug scandal. ESIC only handed out a small punishment to the now OG player Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen. He admitted complicity in the cheating exploits of HUNDEN but received a lenient punishment due to “exceptional circumstances.” Niko has ADHD and Asperger’s Syndrome, which can affect his judgment, according to the ADHD and Asperger’s Team at the National Autistic Society and the ADHD Foundation, which were consulted by the ESIC.
In the video, cadiaN says he was shocked when niko told him and stavn on a TeamSpeak call after the DreamHack Masters Spring Europe series against Astralis on May 2, 2020 that HUNDEN had used the bug against their No. 1 rival in Denmark.
“We really gave our opinion and said that under no circumstance should this bug be used, and that it was stupid,” cadiaN said, adding he and stavn did not share the information with TeSeS and b0RUP. “Looking back, we should have. We should have had a team meeting and said, ‘what the fuck is going on here?'”
Stavn revealed that he and cadiaN talked to HUNDEN after niko told them and made it clear that the coach shouldn’t use the spectator bug again. Stavn felt confident it would never happen again, but HUNDEN ended up exploiting the bug once again against Team Spirit in a Home Sweet Home Cup five matchup on May 24, 2020, just five days after the talk.
The players found themselves under scrutiny in the community following HUNDEN’s accusations since many believed what the coach said. They “felt at peace” throughout ESIC’s inquiry, though, because they were convinced of their innocence. But stavn, for example, wasn’t feeling comfortable enough to live his life outside of CS:GO.
“The time when I realized that we had to say something was when we had this talk with the team called ’empty the backpack’ and Martin [stavn] said that he didn’t want to have a night out with his brothers and friends because he was scared that someone would come to him and say that he was a cheater,” cadiaN said, before starting to cry. “When he said that, I knew we had to talk about it and explain our side of it.”
Throughout the video, cadiaN, the most experienced player on that Heroic lineup and captain of the team, explained how difficult it was for stavn and TeSeS, who are 19 and 20 years old, respectively, to deal with the community abuse that resulted from HUNDEN’s accusations.
TeSeS, particularly, found himself in a tough situation since HUNDEN targeted him in his claim. The former coach allegedly had evidence of TeSeS boosting him on a server with the purpose of using the bug, but ESIC found there was no evidence at all to punish the player.
“I was treated immensely badly by HUNDEN,” TeSeS said. “He has fucked my whole reputation, which I have worked for my whole life. All of a sudden, the whole community is after me for something I didn’t do. I have sacrificed so much to be where I am today. It definitely hurt and still hurts me that HUNDEN accused me of something I didn’t do. I have never come to a conclusion why he would betray me because I trusted this guy. He was my coach and I thought he was my friend. It’s not fair at all.”
Now that the ESIC has cleared cadiaN, TeSeS, stavn, and b0RUP of HUNDEN’s accusations, they can move forward. The Heroic trio can focus on the PGL Stockholm Major, in which they’ll start their campaign in the Challengers Stage against TYLOO.
As for HUNDEN, he was banned by the ESIC for the second time in late August for sharing sensitive information from Heroic’s strategy folder with an opposing team ahead of IEM Cologne in July. The former Heroic coach said at the time that there’s nothing left for him in Counter-Strike.
