Six months was all that Casper "cadiaN" Møller got in the Team Liquid jersey after he was moved to the bench last night by Team Liquid.

“Today we are moving @caspercadiaN from the active roster to the bench for the purposes of exploring a transfer. Our time together did not work out as we hoped but we know he has a bright future ahead of him. We will be working closely with Casper as we explore all options moving forward.”

Casper "cadiaN" Møller joined Team Liquid at the end of 2023 after a tumultuous time on Heroic. The Danish in-game leader was supposed to revitalize a struggling Liquid roster alongside with Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken. A missed qualification for the Copenhagen Major and several disappointing showings throughout 2024 led the management of Liquid to cut the Danish in-game leader, who averaged a 1.00 rating against the top 30 teams during his time in Liquid.

The question now remains in which direction Liquid is planning on going. Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis and Felipe "skullz" Medeiros have also delivered subpar performances in 2024, and will most likely also be under scrutiny going forward. Team Liquid’s last big international trophy was in 2019 winning the IEM XIV Chicago title.

cadiaN

Team Liquid

In the second part of our interview with the Director of Sports at Astralis, Kasper Straube, we talk about the benching of Benjamin "blameF" Bremer, the role of Alexander "br0" Bro, and what kind of considerations they have had making Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz the new in-game leader.

You can read the first part of the interview down below.

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The curious case of Benjamin “blameF” Bremer

In-game leaders in Counter-Strike are often players who are most likely to end up at the bottom of the scoreboard with low ratings. Individually they are suffering from the fact, that they are responsible for calling out the strats, keeping up with the enemy tactics, and often find themselves in some of the most difficult positions and spots to try and shoot heads on the server. But in Astralis, Benjamin "blameF" Bremer was not following the norm. Since he took over the responsibility as in-game leader from Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander, he was the highest-rated player on Astralis and one of the highest-rated players in the world. In 2024 that trend continued with Benjamin "blameF" Bremer being rated at 1.15, while Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz is rated 1.08. Now he finds himself benched on the team.

So why was it necessary to bench the highest-rated player on the team? We asked Kasper Straube, Director of Sports at Astralis.

- As mentioned earlier, we have identified what we believe to be the reasons behind our team's underperformance. The realization that our Counter-Strike foundation was not robust enough prompted us to seek a new in-game leader. Additionally, we felt that Martin "stavn" Lund and Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard should revert to their original roles, the ones they played at Heroic, where they naturally exert more influence and assume more central positions. Given these considerations, it became evident that certain adjustments were necessary. Upon concluding that Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz both desires and is prepared to take on the captaincy, we were left with the task of determining who should assume the anchor position on the roster, acknowledging that resources would be allocated among the central roles on the team.

Q: So, Alexander "br0" Bro is brought in to be a support player?

Yes. He will be a support player to allow Martin "stavn" Lund, Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard, and Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz to take on the roles, where they can have the greatest impact. We have seen Victor "Staehr" Staehr make a big role change on the team, which he has handled superbly. He has been fantastic in doing a lot of the supportive roles. But on a modern-day Counter-Strike team, you need to have more than one to do that, and therefore by definition Alexander "br0" Bro will be a support player on the team, Straube explains.

With the recent signings of Martin "stavn" Lund and Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard from Heroic rumored to be around the $2M mark combined, it is obvious that Astralis were not going to switch out any of the new signings right away. Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz as the AWP’er and new IGL was obviously never going to be touched, which left Victor "Staehr" Staehr as the only possible candidate to change if you wanted to keep Benjamin "blameF" Bremer on the team.

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- I can fully comprehend your perspective on Benjamin "blameF" Bremer, acknowledging him as a remarkable player who is now benched. I completely agree. He is an exceptional player with high intelligence, exceptional skills, and has all the necessary qualities. However, our objective wasn't to add or maintain a certain amount of firepower or introduce additional voices. Instead, our focus was on becoming highly specific and precise about where we wanted to allocate our resources and vocal contributions, Kasper Straube points out.

- We would really like to make the team even more homogeneous in relation to playing the same type of Counter-Strike. And that is also why the choice has fallen on Alexander "br0" Bro to replace Benjamin "blameF" Bremer.

“Not Astralis.pro, but we will carve our own path”

The discussion to elevate Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz into the position as in-game leader was a big surprise for most of the Counter-Strike community who had guessed on various Danish in-game leaders as possibilities to take over from Benjamin "blameF" Bremer. All with the same playing style as a true team player, who was ready to sacrifice themselves for the greater good in any round that demanded it.

- This is the direction that I believe many anticipated us heading in. However, I also believe there are examples of alternative approaches that can prove successful. I'd like to highlight Casper 'cadiaN' Møller for his tenure with Heroic. Perhaps I'm a bit biased, but I consider it some of the best-looking CS ever played. If you turn back time to the good old Astralis era there wasn't a designated sacrifice player, but rather individuals who were willing to make sacrifices when necessary. It is probably also more the philosophy that we are looking for. We want to create a team where everyone can take the place they need, and everyone is willing to do it for each other, Straube, who has a past at Heroic, stated.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/Heroic_cadiaN_aejyqn","originalWidth":5472,"originalHeight":3648,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Adela Sznajder and ESL"}]

cadiaN and Jame faced each other in the Grand Final of the IEM Rio Major in 2022

Casper 'cadiaN' Møller and Dzhami "Jame" Ali are two of the most successful AWP’ers, who are also in-game leading at the same time. When asked about the latter, Kasper Straube breaks out in a smile.

- If I remember correctly, device is extremely fond of Dzhami "Jame" Ali and all that he has done as an AWP’ing in-game leader. I have no doubt that they also have some differences though. So, I don't think we should expect Astralis to become Astralis.pro. We must carve our own path, Kasper Straube emphasizes before putting full confidence behind the decision to let Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz be the new in-game leader.

- There are no guarantees, but there are prerequisites. When I joined Astralis, I engaged in discussions with all the players, including Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz. Naturally, I inquired about past experiences and his thoughts regarding the future, not just tomorrow, but in the months and years ahead. Already back then, he told me that he sees it as a natural thing that he could become an in-game leader at one point or another. He lives and breathes CS, and he aspires to continue doing so for as long as possible and he wants to do it where he wants to do it the most, and that is in Astralis.

- The primary consideration for me is that he - as every other player - has a certain number of years at the highest level. Along that time, he can either conclude an admirable career or choose to prolong it. A way to extend a career for players is to adapt like we see in a lot of different sports. When you look at his exceptional skills, his intelligence, strong work ethic, and the ability to stay abreast of developments on the server while maintaining enthusiasm for innovative gameplay, you undoubtedly possess qualities that will help you adapt into a successful in-game leader.

The new Astralis lineup is currently scheduled to make their competitive debut at the IEM Chengdu tournament in April. For now, the most important thing for Astralis is to find their feet in the new constellation.

- There's no certainty about the pace of progress. While we all aspire to secure a victory tomorrow, it's possible that it might take a bit more time before we position ourselves favorably to achieve that, Kasper Straube says.

Jame

device

Astralis

Five spots for the first CS2 Major in history are up for grabs at the Americas qualification tournament that takes place from March 1st – March 4th.

16 teams are in the mix of rosters that will take part in a Swiss Group Format. Three wins are needed to secure qualification, but with only five spots open for the Major, only two defeats will send teams out in the dark.

The initial matches are played as bo1, while the bo3 format comes into play at the elimination or qualification matches.

Complexity (#14), FURIA (#18), MIBR (#20), Team Liquid (#26), M80 (#37), Imperial (#39), BESTIA (#43), Nouns (#49), Wildcard (#50), Elevate (#51), paiN (#53), RED Canids (#56), NRG (#58), BOSS (#59), Legacy (#60), ODDIK (#65)

: The new lineup with Casper 'cadiaN' Møller as the in-game leader will be tested to the limits in the RMR. The team has not yet been convincing in the few matches that we have seen the team in action. Team Liquid is obviously one of the favorites to go through, but we suspect that there could be a hiccup waiting for the legendary organization.

 Another legend of the game is present on the server for FURIA in the shape of Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo. The Brazilian Professor has a big job ahead of him to guide his team to another Major qualification. FURIA has had a troublesome start to 2024 with bad showings at the IEM Katowice, BLAST Qualifier, and the IEM Dallas qualifier.

 Marcelo "coldzera" David’s team went through the South American closed qualifier with three straight victories. They are the second lowest-ranked team in the mix, but perhaps the two-time Major MVP can shake things up? Their first match is against paiN Gaming, who they demolished 13-3 in the closed qualifier, so that would give coldzera and his men a great start to the event.

3-5th (Qualified): Complexity, paiN, Legacy

coldzera

FalleN

compLexity Gaming

Imperial

FURIA

MIBR

In a livestream with ohnePixel, Team Liquid’s in-game leader Casper "cadiaN" Møller spoke about cheating in CS. The now 28-year-old Dane admitted that he had cheated back in the days of Counter-Strike Source when he was 12 years old or younger.

- I was 12 or something or maybe even less, cadiaN says before explaining how the cheats helped him become a better player.

- These cheats are kind of what made me good at the game. I was kind of clueless, and when I installed these cheats I kind of understood all the timings of when I could meet the opponents, how long could I run with a knife, if I get this kill, what reaction is the opponents going to do.

While the admission may sound controversial to many, it is a well-known fact, that many players in the early days of Counter-Strike has tried out different cheats when exploring the game.

The charismatic Dane was announced as the new AWP'er and in-game leader for Team Liquid last night on Twitter.

Casper "cadiaN" Møller returns to North American CS, where he previously spent a year with Rogue back in 2017/18. Since then cadiaN developed into being one of the most prolific and sucessful in-game leaders leading Heroic to be the best team in the world on HLTV's ranking alongside several tournament wins.

The Heroic era ended drastically with Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard and Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund exit from the team, after Heroic initially had benched Casper "cadiaN" Møller on their request. The high profiled in-game leader was later offered the chance to rebuild the roster, but instead, cadiaN chose to seek out new adventures at Team Liquid.

- So excited to have this be my next step. It’s time to lift the biggest trophies, and bring TL back to winning ways, the Dane tweeted after the announcement.

Here he will join Keith "NAF" Markovic,  Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis, and Felipe "skullz" Medeiros, while Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken is expected to complete the lineup later today.

Another twist in the tale of Casper "cadiaN" Møller’s departure from Heroic came to light yesterday with the announcement of cadiaN’s return for the upcoming BLAST Fall Finals.

At the start of October Heroic announced the benching of Casper "cadiaN" Møller. They later revealed that the Danish in-game leader was removed from the roster at the request of Martin "stavn" Lund and Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard, who was supposed to extend their contracts with Heroic in return. According to Heroic the two players instead told the Organization that they had made “future plans” with Astralis, which prompted Heroic to remove the two players from the roster only leaving René "TeSeS" Madsen and Rasmus "sjuush" Beck on the team with Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen as a stand-in for the rest of 2023.

Now the fans of Heroic and Casper "cadiaN" Møller will have one last chance to say goodbye to the prolific in-game leader who is rumored to be joining Team Liquid after the event.

Heroic is expected to announce the last player to play in the Royal Arena today, as the deadline for submitting rosters for the upcoming event is today. BLAST Premier Fall Final will take place from November 22nd to 26th in Copenhagen.

Heroic

When CS:GO pros lock horns in events with huge prize pools as well as the honor up for grabs, things are sure to get heated almost every time. Each player and CS:GO team is different. Some players are very vocal about their own performances and sometimes even their opponents. 

Two of the most vocal CS:GO pros out there are "cadiaN" and "apEX". Making sure to everyone that they breathe passion when it comes to CS:GO, the two IGL's are no strangers to some trash talk. The latest was IGL of Heroic "cadiaN" who had some things to say to his opponents. The somewhat unknown roster of TheMongolz got the "cadiaN experience" on firsthand when the two rosters clashed at IEM Cologne. 

After the game, the Danish IGL received hateful messages and critiques because of his trash talk on stage. The backlash led the passionate Dane to tweet the following: 

Whilst it can sometimes be a bit much with the trash talk between teams, most of the time it is just the result of the professional players vocalizing their passion for the game when it becomes the most intense. "cadiaN" was by no means the first to trash talk his opponents mid-game. Take a look at some the craziest trash talk between opponents throughout the years. 

You won’t see a professional match without a crazy amount of utility in use, because most of the team's tactics are from the use of their utility to either confuse or distract the opponent. Utility used correctly will give your teammate, or perhaps even yourself, an important upper hand in dire situations.

The "flashbang" is one of the most used utilities in CS:GO, and is the cheapest but also one of the most effective ways to overcome your opponent. If you flash your opponent, you have a few seconds where they can't see or hear anything around them, which gives you or your teammate the opportunity to kill the opponent. 

Whilst support players are very rarely praised as much as they deserve to be, we have found the five best players at using the effective "flashbang". The best flashers from CS:GO – In the top 20 teams in 2023 are: 

Opp flashed = Average time per round opponents were blinded by flashbangs by this player

{cflag:DK} "cadiaN" – Opp flashed: 2.83s

{cflag:DE} "tabseN" – Opp flashed: 2.73s

{cflag:FI} "Aleksib" - Opp flashed: 2.25s

{cflag:LV} "broky" – Opp flashed: 2.14s

Take a look at just how deadly a flashbang can be if used correctly: 

One would think that it was an extremely happy and delighted Casper “cadiaN” Møller, who met James Banks for a post-match interview following Heroic’s 2-1 victory over Liquid this Sunday, as the Danes secured themselves a spot in the playoffs at BLAST.tv Paris Major.

Because by taking down the North Americans from Liquid, cadiaN actually ruined his 3-0 selection in his own Pick’Em challenge after having picked EliGE and company to go through 3-0 in the Legends Stage, cadiaN [link:{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kKDjRmHp0g","isNewTab":true,"text":"revealed "}]to James Banks after the match.

- If I have to be completely honest, I’m also a little bit sad. My Pick’ems are shattered, you know. I had Liquid to go 3-0, and this is not looking good boys.

James Banks, BLAST interviewer: “You could have let Liquid win for your Pick’ems", he said with a smile. 

- Yeah, not worth it, cadiaN quickly responded.

In a more serious matter, cadiaN also touched on the differences and improvements on the Heroic squad compared to last year’s Major in Rio de Janeiro, where they lost to Outsiders in the Grand Final.

- I feel like we have a bit more experience and clutch factor within the team. I think you can definitely feel the finals and deep runs that we have made… like the number of times I’m impressed when we are in a bad situation and someone adjusts and makes the right decision in the clutch and stuff like this, is honestly really inspiring to see as a leader.

- Because that means that all the effortless hours and all of the tough love I’m giving them… because I am giving them a lot. Obviously, people see the huddle and stuff. And that’s good. But it’s a mix, because I’m also super tough in training - and to see it pay off like that is and see them play such amazing CS is just the best feeling.

Back in early February, BIG´s star AWPer sidelined himself due to personal reasons. Since then, the Young Academy AWPer Marcel 'hyped' Köhn has been the main AWPer for the German first team. But how well has the young gun actually played during his first month as a BIG player, and did BIG play better with or without him?

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Hayped played his first top-tier tournament as a BIG player when the Germans participated in the ESL Pro League S17. Starting the event of great was hyped as BIG managed to take down Complexity in a 2-1 thriller. The young AWPer was the man who led his team to victory producing an impressive stat line 65-53 K/D / +12 +/- / 83.9 ADR / 1.25 Rating. 

Despite BIG falling short in their following game against Heroic, cadiaN is convinced that BIG should not be worried about losing their highest-rated player Florian “syrsoN” Rische. In a post-match interview, Casper "cadiaN" Møller and Rasmus "sjuush" Beck sat down and talked with the ESL panel about the recent roster change on BIG.

- Let me say something controversial here. BIG will be better with hyped than with syrsoN. I don’t want to judge anyone, I’m just giving my perception. When you have a player syrsoN that gets three kills or his teammate gets three kills and he’s still just sitting with no emotions giving no energy and no hype. I don’t see him talking ever - like in these BLAST videos where they are recording, I never see him talk.

A great motivational speech from candiaN towards the BIG players and all of their fans weren't enough for them to make it through the ESL Pro League S17. In yesterday's elimination match against Movistar Riders, BIG couldn't keep up with the Spanish team who secured themselves a spot in the playoffs over the Germans. Despite Hyped didn't manage to produce the same stunning numbers as syrsoN normally does, there is still hope for BIG with their new academy player on the roster. 

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After the disappointing loss over Movistar Riders, Krimbo took his time to talk with the ESL panel about hyped stepping in as the new main AWPer. 

- I think our team chemistry is on point, and no one is having any trouble with each other. 

Watch the entire segment with Krimbo here:

[twitchClip:PlumpSmokyTardigradeItsBoshyTime-FcixrnC-R3JON7as]

The next time we get to see BIG in action is in the ELISA Invitational Winter 2023 when the Germans take upon the winner of 9INE/Monte. 

hyped

Krimbo

The Germans from BIG should not be worried about losing their highest-rated player Florian “syrsoN” Rische according to Casper “cadiaN” Møller. In fact, the Heroic captain is sure that BIG are better suited with the younger Marcel “hyped” Köhn than with the star AWPer.

In a post-match segment after Heroic’ 2-1 victory over BIG yesterday, cadiaN and Rasmus “sjuush” Beck sat down with ESL for a chat about Counter-Strike, where he also touched on the recent roster change on BIG.

- Let me say something controversial here. BIG will be better [with hyped] than with syrsoN. I don’t want to judge anyone… I’m just giving my perception, cadiaN said and elaborated:

- When you have a player [syrsoN] that gets three kills or his teammate gets three kills and he’s still just sitting with no emotions giving no energy and no hype. I don’t see him talking ever - like in these BLAST videos where they are recording, I never see him talk.

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The Danish veteran then explained what he sees as key ingredients in a teammate and how he believes a CS:GO team should function.

- For me at least and how we play Counter-Strike, is five people who constantly have to communicate and hype each other up, and when you’re dead you have to supervise the other guys. So a young guy who’s hungry, who wants to work and be more of a part of the BIG philosophy, I believe in that. 

You can watch the entire segment down below.

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syrsoN

BIG Academy

It’s not that long ago Casper “cadiaN” Møller and the rest of Heroic lifted their first top-tier trophy when they won BLAST Premier Fall Final on home soil in Copenhagen. 

Following the impressive victory, the Danes had several weeks as the number one team in the world, with some people also naming them as the favourites for winning the Paris Major.

However, if you ask the CS:GO expert and analyst Alex "Mauisnake" Ellenberg, Heroic has already hit their ceiling and with a potential Heroic-era being “beyond their capabilities”. Something he discusses in the latest [link:{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLbvYoFNp3o&t","isNewTab":true,"text":"episode "}]of Snake & Banter.

- I think we have seen the best that we’re going to get out of this Heroic lineup, Mauisnake says and continues:

- We have talked about this before on analyst segments that the hardest thing is; how are you going to get 10% more out of a player. And I feel like you’re maxing out on everybody on this Heroic team. You basically had a career tournament for jabbi and they still fell short – and cadiaN is still playing pretty well as an AWPer.

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“Pushed teamwork as far as it can go”

Mauisnake elaborates his thoughts about Heroic’s individuals having reached their limit, where he also explains why it’s doubtful to see the Danes dominate the CS:GO scene for a longer period.

- It feels like Heroic has pushed teamwork as far as it can go. We love with CS that teamwork can make you punch above your weight in terms of individuals but I don’t think it’s easy to see a route for Heroic to get that much better.

- They are capped now, but they should be a team that continues to fight their way deep into these playoffs. I think they could win like one trophy this year - they could definitely snag one but assuming that they’re ever going to have any sort of era of dominance seems so far beyond their capabilities.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/Mauisnake_uhntey","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

Mauisnake (left) at the desk at PGL Major Antwerp last year

The Finnish in-game leader Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen, who’s a guest on the episode, chimes in on the discussion by outlining how he sees Heroic.

-The way they play CS is like they don’t have one player shining, it’s like the whole unit shining if they’re playing well. You might not see them play better, but I feel like just because of their style and whatever they can claw out a win against anyone.

- But at the same time at the Major they lost to Outsiders, where I was telling everyone that Heroic is going to win this Major, and a lot of players agreed. But I mean they ended up losing right.

You can watch the full episode with Maunisnake, Aleksib and Duncan "Thorin" Shields right here. They start to talk about Heroic at around 1.34.00.

cadiaN stood tall against five Vitality players despite all the odds being against the 27-year-old Dane. In a 1vs5 situation, the Heroic IGL took things into his own hands and secured his team their teenth round. Heroic ended up winning the map on behalf of all the momentum the team gained after the cadiaN clutch.

Watch cadiaN's 1vs5 clutch in every language right here:

If you want to know how it sounds when your country goes insane after a wild clutch, check the timestamps here:

Casper "cadiaN" Møller took his time to answer as many questions as he possibly could on Reddit. The fans or haters had 24 hours to ask him about everything they wanted to know. 

We have gathered the best questions and answers from the post.

"Do you find that your "firey" attitude during the game impacts your relationship with other pros? Are some pros/personalities better at dealing with it than others? Has it impacted a relationship with another pro that you regret?"

- It has definitely impacted some relationships, but also some for the more positive. However, my shouting is 90% directed as positive comments towards my team, and if that's an issue for any of my competitors, then that's on him. Especially in recent times, many fellow players have shown their respect and told me to my face that they think I'm an awesome leader.

cadiaN thinks attitude can affect his relationship with other players in both negative and positive ways. 

"Which AWP’er is the most annoying to play against?"

- Depends a bit on the day, and the definition of annoying. Sh1ro and Jame can be annoying because you never meet them, they are consistent, don't take many chances, and don't make many mistakes. s1mple is probably still the best answer, cause he wins the team games, and he always finds his way.

The world's number two in ZywOo isn't to be found when cadiaN names his toughest opponents. However, the Heroic IGL mentions two different AWPers and how their playstyle can be annoying in different ways. 

"Do you think more teams are picking up the "chaos" style you are so good at applying? Pressuring the extremes of the map and so on?"

- Yes, many teams are copying things from the Heroic playstyle - I would say mostly as CT, this is something we have noticed a lot in recent times. Not all the teams have learned the "how and why's" though.

cadiaN believes that many people are seeking towards playing a more chaotic CT side. A chaotic CT side where the Counter-Terrorist is pushing the T's to take more space away from the attackers. 

Read all the questions and answers on the link [link:{"url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/GlobalOffensive/comments/10pcwrn/cadian_ama/","isNewTab":true,"text":"here"}]. 

Heroic played Team Vitality in the Group A final at BLAST Premier Spring Groups. 

1-0 in favor of Vitality and behind 9-12 on NUKE Casper "cadiaN" Møller took things into his own hands as the 27-year-old pulled off a stunning 1vs5 clutch with only 23 seconds left on the clock. With both the AWP and AK the Heroic IGL secured his team the round after he killed all Vitality players in an intense battle. Some would argue that Vitality played that really badly, and others would just sit back and admire how great of a clutch that was from cadiaN. 

Following the clutch, Heroic gained huge momentum and took the map win. 

Watch the insane 1vs5 clutch from the Heroic IGL in the video below:

[twitchClip:TentativeIcyWerewolfSpicyBoy-La0U9BM5gHcjaG9l]

Team Vitality

Heroic played against Vitality in the Group A final at BLAST Spring Groups 2023. Here the Danes from Heroic ended up losing the match against the Frech/Danish team 2-1, despite a great comeback and clutch from the Danish IGL on map two. 

After a disappointing loss to Vitality, the Danish IGL made his thoughts clear after the game. 

- I think we played awful today on all three maps, Vitality hasn't beaten us since Oct. 2020, and I think if they couldn't beat us today, they probably never would, says Casper "cadiaN" Møller to BLAST after the game. 

Watch the full interview with cadiaN down below:

[twitchClip:CleverCallousHerdPrimeMe-DOE-FiQAoelgAyOq]

There were no expectations for Evil Geniuses when the North American squad arrived at BLAST Premier Spring Groups last week - Literally zero. With their heavy struggles throughout the last couple of years in mind, the prospects of getting any kind of success against the CS:GO elite looked incredibly small.

However, that was something EG quickly proved wrong at the Copenhagen-based tournament as they managed to beat the world leaders from Heroic in a Bo3 series, which they followed up by taking another map away from Casper “cadiaN” Møller yesterday.

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It was therefore also a surprised and impressed Heroic captain who spoke with James Banks after the match on Tuesday.

- Evil Geniuses played really, really well. I think they disrupted us good, neaLaN played a good game and they had some gambles where whenever we hit sites, it felt like there were a lot of people there. Yes, we smashed them on the last two maps but I actually think they played really good, cadiaN said and continued.  

- You can meme all you want about the NA projects and stuff like this but I think Evil Geniuses is doing something better than last year.

- Again I can’t say if they are like one or two changes away, but I think with some of the philosophies and strategies they are playing with and how they are handling different scenarios, I actually think they did pretty well. So, I was surprised to play them here because we thought we would have an easier time. At the end of the day, they won three maps against us, the number one team in the world. So, I mean they are showing good signs.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/CadiaN_uro2rl","originalWidth":4096,"originalHeight":2731,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Michael Konkol, BLAST"}]

cadiaN seems to have jumped on the EG believer train

For Heroic on the other hand, cadiaN seems to be a bit more reluctant with the praising and applauding remarks when the conversation shifted towards his squad. 

- We are looking a bit shaky – maybe I criticized the boys for a lack of energy and initiative on the first map but my calls were also not good enough. A little bit of my fault and a little it of the other guy’s fault but at the end of the day that’s also the philosophy we praise. You win as a team, you lose as a team.

You can watch the entire post-match interview down below. 

Evil Geniuses

Heroic is out of BLAST World Finals after two straight defeats in the group stage of the event.

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After their match against NAVI we spoke with the captain of Heroic, Casper "cadiaN" Møller about the performance of Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke and the year in general for Heroic. 

k0nfig

We spoke with Casper "cadian" Møller about Heroic and their rise of form lately. In the interview, the in-game leader also talks about the pick of Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke as the stand-in player for Heroic at BLAST World Finals in Abu Dhabi.

It was actually my idea to bring him in. I was looking at the different players that we could get and what they would bring for the in-game chances and the outside dynamics. ... k0nfig has been great throughout the practices, so I am excited to see him in the official matches. Taking k0nfig is a little bit of a risk, but he has some x-factor, and I rather have him shooting ten in one game and then shooting 30 in the next game than someone who shoots 15 in two games. I know that if he is feeling it, he will perform really well.

Watch the full interview with Casper "cadian" Møller right here:

Heroic will face OG in their first game at the BLAST Premier World Finals 2022.

Watch the game live at 13:00 (CET) on the following twitch channel:

stavn

Casper “cadiaN” Møller took the long route on his way to becoming Heroic’s captain. After already climbing the Counter-Strike ladder once before, the Dane had to do it again to prove he didn’t peak too early on the big scene.

The Danish IGL has played for 15 different organizations in his eight-year-long professional career, including the likes of mousesports and FunPlus Phoenix. But now, his focus is on getting his team back to the form of their recent number 1 squad, before it was thwarted by an infamous coaching scandal.

	30 days	90 days
Fixture count	0	0
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cadiaN

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