Martin “stavn” Lund is looking for a fresh start. Recently stepping into the spotlight as Ninjas in Pyjamas’ newest AWP’er, the 24-year-old Dane made an appearance on the HLTV Confirmed podcast today to discuss his new role. However, the conversation inevitably drifted toward the elephant in the room: the infamous “stabbi” incident that shattered the fan-favorite Heroic roster.
In a candid reflection on the chaotic period that saw both him and Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard push out legendary in-game leader Casper “cadiaN” Møller before shockingly jumping ship to domestic rivals Astralis, stavn offered his side of the story, shedding light on the burnout, the timeline, and his lingering regrets.
The breaking point in Heroic
Addressing the initial decision to remove cadiaN from the active lineup, stavn did not shy away from his role in the roster move, though he emphasized that the final call was a collective one.
I was the guy who initiated my wish not to play with Casper anymore,” stavn admitted on the podcast. “It was not my decision but a team decision.
According to stavn, the fracture within Heroic wasn’t born out of sudden malice, but rather the compounding exhaustion of deep tournament runs that repeatedly ended in heartbreak.
It was a mixture of a lot of things. We had a long streak of going to all the tournaments and always going to the semi-finals or finals. Losing the way we lost in those games was hard on everyone and also on the team,” he explained, drawing a parallel to another contemporary roster. “It takes a hard toll when you experienced what we did. It’s like MOUZ now, and at some point you can’t keep going like this, it will break you both individually and as a team. But it was a mixture of personal things, and the feeling that we could not win anymore if we kept going.
Defending the timeline: “Who in their right mind would ever do that?”
The most controversial aspect of the “stabbi” saga wasn’t necessarily cadiaN’s benching, but the immediate aftermath. Shortly after Heroic’s management sided with stavn and jabbi to rebuild the team around them, the duo informed the organization that they intended to sign with Astralis.
When asked if there was a premeditated plan to intentionally sabotage Heroic, stavn vehemently denied the accusation.
Listen, that is just absolute crazy. Who in their right mind would ever do that?” he responded. “The plan for me after we kicked cadiaN was for me to either go to in-game leading or AWP’ing, which was something that I was wanting to do as well. So that was the plan, and we had some good talks with some players as well.
The pivot to Astralis, stavn claims, came abruptly and opportunistically from the other side of the Danish divide.
A week and a half later I got a message from a player in Astralis. I was probably naive about that. My assumption was that Astralis did not know about the situation in Heroic, but when I think about it now, I think they knew that some shit had happened in Heroic, and maybe now was a good chance to contact us.
Hindsight and regrets
Looking back at the rubble left behind, stavn acknowledged the damage done to his former organization. Leaving Heroic without their IGL and subsequently departing as the team’s two foundational star players left the Norwegian organization in a massive rebuilding phase.
Me and jabbi in a way fucked up old Heroic,” stavn confessed. “cadiaN did leave, and we left, so from the organization’s perspective I feel bad for what happened to them. There is obviously stuff from the things that transpired that I regret. I never wanted to hurt anyone.
Despite the regrets, the new NiP sniper remains pragmatic about the harsh realities of tier-one Counter-Strike.
In the end it is also business, and in sports business you sometimes need to think about yourself and what is best for your career.
Now tasked with wielding the Big Green for Ninjas in Pyjamas, stavn is clearly hoping to put the “stabbi” chapter behind him and let his performance on the server dictate the next phase of his career.
