When OG was in need of a temporary in-game leader due to the captain Nemanja “nexa” Isakovic taking a break from competition in mid-February, the organization decided to bring in a familiar face; Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen.

The former Heroic and North rifler have now been in charge of Abdul “degster” Gasanov and company for about two months, where he at the newly-concluded RMR event led OG in an outstanding comeback to secure a ticket to the Paris Major. 

We got the opportunity to speak with niko to discuss his long-awaited comeback to the server, him taking over the IGL reins from nexa, and the possibility of re-joining OG on a permanent basis.

You and OG managed to qualify after an outstanding comeback going from 0-2 to 3-2. Can you put some words on this impressive achievement but also the RMR journey itself?

- Everything changes as soon as you know it’s Major qualification on the line, and everyone feels even more motivated to succeed. We are all extremely happy with the outcome. It wasn’t easy going from 0-2 to then turning it all around and qualifying, but we managed to do it.

Your last match before getting benched last year was when you and OG lost the opportunity to qualify for PGL Major Antwerp at the RMRs. How have the last 12 months been for you being on the sideline?

- I’ve had a lot of time to think about how to approach the game and what I want to improve on as a player. It’s never nice to be put on the bench and wonder what the next step is, but I feel like I made the most of it while not being on a team. I just had to keep doing my thing, which is practising a bunch and staying as active as possible in my routines, so when the right opportunity came around I would be ready.

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How has the experience been IGL’ing? And is it a role you want to pursue permanently going forward?

- It was a lot of responsibility on my shoulders coming straight into a team and being given the role of IGL. But the more I play it, the more fun I’m having with it and I think it shows, so I’m definitely not opposed to pursuing that role going forward.

Do you think you have found your own style of IGL’ing?

- It comes with the experience in terms of finding my own style, I think. To begin with, we were very focused on doing basic strategies that the rest of the team was used to doing. As time goes on, and we practice/play more and more, I really start to feel like I’m finding my own style as an IGL.

What is the situation with you and OG? Are there any talks about you returning permanently?

- Right now it’s still one tournament at a time, but both OG and I are happy with how things are progressing right now, which is also why I’ll be continuing as a stand-in for the upcoming major.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/niko_OG_umx2vh","originalWidth":1920,"originalHeight":1080,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Adela Sznajder and ESL"}]

niko is currently standing in OG in the absence of nexa

If it were up to you, would you like to return to OG and be the new in-game leader if nexa won’t come back?

- Of course, it feels great being on OG right now for me. I think generally speaking I would like to find a permanent home to play Counter-Strike. OG would be a great place to play permanently, but I also respect that they are trying to figure out the best possible scenario for them. I have no information on what the current situation is with nexa and what plans OG has for the future. I’m still a stand-in and understand that for the time being I am playing as that while doing everything I can to help the team succeed.

What will you and the team do before the Major to give yourself the best conditions in Paris? And is it confirmed that you will attend the Major with OG?

- Yup, I’ll be playing for OG during the Major. We will keep practising and preparing like we are already doing. The more experience we get as a roster the more comfortable we will be, going up against the best teams in the world. I think IEM Rio is a good test of what’s to come in the Major, I think.

niko and OG are set to compete at the upcoming BLAST.tv Paris Major which will be played between 8th-21th of May in the French capital. Here OG will kick off their campaign in the Challengers Stage against ENCE in the opening round. 

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niko

niko, aizy, and MSL are back on the server following the qualifier for ELISA Invitational Winter 2023 which kicks off Tuesday at (CET) 16:00.

Its been years since the three North players have been a part of the same team, the last time we saw the three North players on the same team was back in 2018 when the Danish team won Dreamhack Masters in Stockholm. This time niko, MSL, and aizy will join leakz and Ming0 to round out their roster for the upcoming qualifier. 

Besides the new roster with Danish legends there will be six other Danish teams competing against the North tiro in the ELISA qualifier according to [link:{"url":"https://www.dust2.dk/nyheder/33098/north-trio-vender-tilbage","isNewTab":true,"text":"Dust2.dk"}]. 

maybe- looks as follows for the upcoming ELISA qualifier:

{cflag:DK} Jamie 'leakz' Bugge West Jensen

aizy

*This is a republished article dating back to October 2021.

Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen has been the centre of a dramatic dispute, which has proven to be much deeper and problematic than first assumed. The controversial coach has admitted his wrongdoings in the Spectator Bug Scandal, but he's also accusing several Heroic members of either knowing or helping him exploit the bug. 

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The entire itself case concerning HUNDEN can be a bit tough to understand and get a grip on. Therefore, we've decided to make a comprehensive timeline of events of all the events dating back to May 2020.

A timeline of events on the controversy around HUNDEN:

According to HUNDEN, there’s some discussions and debates within the Heroic roster whether to use the “Spectator bug” or not in May.

Heroic uses the infamous bug for the first time in a match against their countrymen from Astralis at DH Masters Spring EU. According to HUNDEN, numerous players, but not everyone, are aware of the in-game cheating.

Heroic make use of the cheat for the second time, now in a match against Spirit at Home Sweet Home 5. According to HUNDEN, the same players from the Astralis match knows about the cheating.

HUNDEN is being handed a 12-month ban by ESIC, owing to his involvement in the “Spectator Bug Scandal”. According to HUNDEN, the entire Heroic team, including the CEO at that time, Erik Askered holds a meeting to discuss the ban and how to handle the situation.

Allegedly, some players were ready to go public together with HUNDEN and admit their involvement and their knowing of the cheating. The rest said that they didn’t knew about the cheating.

ESIC reduces HUNDEN’s sentence from 12 months to 8 months, owing to his assistance in the investigation.

Heroic decide to keep HUNDEN on the team by moving him into an analyst role.

HUNDEN returns to his head coach role at Heroic after having served his ESIC ban. HUNDEN once again, states that the players did not know anything about the cheating when it happened.

HUNDEN goes public announcing that he won’t extend his contract with Heroic, as he “wishes to begin a new chapter of his career”. In the same statement, HUNDEN denies the rumours of him sharing material from Heroic’s stratbook with others.

Heroic announce that they have started to take legal actions against HUNDEN, owing to contract breaches from the coach. Heroic believe to have evidence of HUNDEN sharing “confidential and sensitive information from our strategy folder with a key individual at a major competitor”

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HUNDEN goes public in an interview with TV2 Sporten, to express his disbelief of ESIC not having heard him in the investigation of him. In the TV2 Sporten article, it’s said that HUNDEN will receive a two-year ban by ESIC.

HUNDEN appear in a new TV2 Sporten interview, where he this time states that some of the Heroic players knew about the cheating and the use of “Spectator Bug” back in May 2020. HUNDEN says that he won’t mention any names “because he thinks it is up to the players themselves”.

HUNDEN receives his second ESIC ban. This time a two-year ban on the grounds that his actions were "engaging a behaviour that threatened harm to the reputation and competitive integrity of esports". 

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HUNDEN implicates Rene 'TeSeS' Madsen with the evidence presented to Danish TV2, that the Heroic player entered the server together with his coach, and was the only player who could have boosted HUNDEN to the position, that would trigger the coach-bug. He also reveals a chat log, where former Heroic player, Nikolaj ’niko’ Kristensen writes, that everybody on the team knew about the cheating.

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ESIC confirms, that they have started an investigation against the Heroic players after HUNDEN has turned over the evidence to the Esports Integrity Commission.

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ESIC clear four current or former Heroic members (cadiaN, TeSeS, stavn, b0rup) for any allegations brought forward by HUNDEN, as the Integrity Commission revel their final report in the case. 

- Upon investigating the conduct of these individuals, ESIC was unable to find anywhere near enough evidence to reasonably conclude that these four players were guilty of any offence under the ESIC Integrity Program, the report states. 

In the same report by ESIC, the former Heroic player Nikolaj "niko" Kristensen pleaded guilty after he admitted his complicity in the cheating exploits of HUNDEN. However, niko were only sanctioned with minor punishment, owing to ESIC believing he was "ruthlessly manipulated" by HUNDEN, his former coach. 

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After a long period without any news on HUNDEN it suddenly came to light that ESIC has decided to lift his ban nine months before time. 

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TeSeS

cadiaN

b0RUP

stavn

Heroic

Today OG announced another change to its roster. Two weeks ago it was Valdemar "valde" Vangså, and now the turn has come to his Danish teammate Nikolaj "niko" Kristensen.

The announcement was expected after multiple rumors had put the Dane on the transfer list. The tweet from OG was followed up by this text.

- To be perfectly clear, Nikolaj "niko" Kristensen has been moved to the bench and is allowed to explore his options. We'll be helping him find the right team so he can bounce back as soon as possible. Interested teams can reach out to marc@forevr.gg. Thank you!

Nikolaj "niko" Kristensen has previously been part of Heroic, OpTic, and North.

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valde

OG's results in 2022 have been disappointing, to say the least. They placed last as IEM Katowice and then failed to qualify for the major after losing to teams such as Eternal Fire and forZe.

The team swapped IGLs with G2 at the end of January, and now just four months later they will be benching the two Danes of the team: "valde" and "niko" according to reports from 1pv.fr.

"valde" has been a part of the team since its birth in 2019 while "niko" joined in 2021 as the replacement for "NBK-".

Today's #POTD features this outstanding and extremely well-played fake from a team called donttalkingplz. The rather unknown mix managed to trick the superstars from OG to think that the bomb was planted B, where it actually was triggered on A by a lonesome T-side player.

Watch the 200 IQ play right here in today's Pley of the Day!

In today’s second match from Group A at IEM Katowice, Heroic took on OG in a tough brawl, which fielded no more than seven Danish internationals. Despite, Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen battering his former teammates 16-14 on Ancient, it was Heroic who ended on top at the end of the day. 

After losing a fierce and extremely close battle on Ancient, Heroic showed great character on their own map pick of Overpass. Especially Martin “stavn” Lund presented some beautiful Counter-Strike, where the 19-year-old rifler managed to top his 1.43 Rating from the first map with a stellar 1.58 Rating on Overpass. The strong play from stavn and company was enough to send the match through to the decider, as they secured a 16-12 win.

Inferno served as the perfect dessert for a very exciting match. The level of Counter-Strike was through the roof with several highlight moments from the encounter. Heroic got off to the best start winning their T side 9-6. But then Mateusz 'mantuu' Wilczewski suddenly woke up to give his team a chance in the second half of the map. At the same time, Heroic took some unnecessary gambles, where they ended up stacking the wrong sites to allow OG some easy plants. But again Martin “stavn” Lund did excellently to swing the match in favor of Heroic, who won 16-13 to seal the deal. 

14-16 (Ancient) | {cflag:DK} niko – 1.60 Rating / 31-19 K-D / 115.9 ADR

16-12 (Overpass) | {cflag:DK} stavn – 1.58 Rating / 28-18 K-D / 112.2 ADR

16-13 (Inferno) | {cflag:PL} mantuu Rating 1.40 Rating / 25-16 K-D / 78.0 ADR

MVP: {cflag:DK} Martin “stavn” Lund 1.43 Rating / 77-51 K-D / 98.8 ADR

The second Bo3 of the day at BLAST Premier Spring Groups, saw the undefeated OG take on Ninjas In Pyjamas, who had eliminated the world's #1, Na'Vi, in their last matchup. The two sides now had to do fight each other for a spot in the Spring Finals.

The first team to choose a map was NIP, and they chose to play Overpass which has looked very solid for them at the BLAST Premier Spring Groups.

It was the CTs of OG that got off to the best start taking a massive early lead, with “mantuu” leading the way individually. A more deciding factor was the impeccable reads that came out of the OG side, which enabled them to stack bombsites and have very fast flanks, which led to them strangling the NIP offense. The Ninjas managed to take a measly three rounds before the break and now had to make a huge comeback.

OG continued their dominance in the second half and secured match point three rounds into the second half. OG didn’t manage to end it completely clean, as they did drop one more round to NIP, but were able to take the victory on Overpass at 16-4.

The second map up was Ancient and was picked by OG. It’s a map that has looked very strong for the new OG, and thus a very unsurprising pick.

A great start from IGL “hampus” facilitated an early lead for the CT-side Ninjas, and quickly they had secured four rounds, the same amount they managed to take through all of Overpass. But just as fast as the Swedes had taken the lead, they lost it again, to an OG that looked extremely coordinated. NIP ended the half on a happy note as they were able to take the last four rounds and go to halftime with an 8-7 lead.

The OG squad got off to a great start on their CT-side, retaking the lead with a three-round streak. With “hampus” calling a good T-side, and OG being a solid Ancient-team, the second half was very close and had several lead changes. It was the Ninjas who were finally able to pull away and secure map point at 15-12. OG almost pulled the game into overtime, but armed with nothing but pistols, NIP took the 30th round and won the map.

The deciding third map was none other than the legendary Mirage, and had NIP starting on the T-side, while OG started as the CTs.

After a nasty loss on their own map pick of Ancient, OG pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and took the first four rounds of the map, but answering right back were the Ninjas with six rounds of their own. The last part of the half was split right down the middle with OG taking three rounds, and NIP taking two, and they went to halftime at 8-7.

After switching to the CT-side NIP immediately extended their advantage to 13-7. OG started making a comeback look possible, but it was the Swedes that hit map- and match point at 15-11. The “nexa”-led squad managed to take it to the 30th round, and in the end, it was “niko” that secured overtime for OG.

Just like regulation, the start to overtime was extremely close, and OG barely managed two of the three rounds in the 1st half of overtime. The Ninjas managed to equalize after the half, but OG took the last two rounds and ran away with the victory at 19-17.

OG thereby secures a spot in the Spring Finals, while NIP will have to beat Na’Vi once again if they also want a spot in the Spring Finals.

OG – NIP 2-1 | BLAST Premier Spring Groups

16-4 (Overpass) | niko {cflag:DK} – 1.72 Rating / 21-8 K-D / 111.8 ADR

14-16 (Ancient) | valde {cflag:DK} – 1.27 Rating / 20-14 K-D / 76.2 ADR

19-17 (Mirage) | flameZ {cflag:IL} – 1.55 Rating / 32-24 K-D / 104.0 ADR

MVP: Shahar "flameZ" Shushan {cflag:IL} – 1.31 Rating / 63-54 K-D / 84.9 ADR

hampus

flameZ

Ninjas in Pyjamas

After the two amazing opening games of Group B, the winners' match of MIBR vs. OG was up next, and it could almost only be a fantastic game judging by what the teams showed in their opening matches. The map that was agreed upon was Ancient, the same map that OG had just played versus Astralis, and it was up to the Brazilians to show that they could do a better job than Danes did. OG started out on the CT-side, just like the previous game.

MIBR started out great as they convincingly took the pistol round, but their success was short-lived as OG were able to win the following force-buy round. Led by the flourishing duo of "valde" and "flameZ" who both had huge multi-kills, OG dominated the start of the game. MIBR kept fighting back with some great entries that also led to bomb plants, but "nexa" and "niko" had now started hard-fragging as well which made it so much harder for the Brazilians to hold the bombsites they had taken. "nexa" and co. went to the break with a commanding lead of 13-2.

The second half pistol much-needed went the way of MIBR, who were now four for four in pistol rounds on the day. Still behind by ten rounds, MIBR had a long way back into the game but managed to catch on fire with five straight rounds to start the half, before being stopped by the Deagles of OG. The Brazilians kept looking incredibly solid on their CT-side, but they were just too far behind, which meant that "nexa" and his soldiers were able to pull it across the line at 16-9.

MIBR – OG (0-1) | BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2022

nexa {cflag:RS} – 1.51 Rating / 22-13 K-D / 90.1 ADR

nexa

MIBR

Yesterday Heroic issued a [link:{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW1pw2lsiAY&t","isNewTab":true,"text":"35-minute-long video statement"}], where four of the implicated players in cadiaN, stavn, TeSeS, and b0rup all gave their side of the story in the disputed case between the Danish team and the former coach Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen.

In the video, cadiaN and company outline the entire situation from their perspective, where they at one point explain that cadiaN and stavn became aware of HUNDEN’s exploit of the spectator bug just a few hours after the first incident against Astralis.

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In a comment to [link:{"url":"https://sport.tv2.dk/e-sport/2021-10-19-efter-kamp-mod-astralis-vidste-danske-stjerner-at-deres-traener-havde-snydt","isNewTab":true,"text":"TV2 Sporten"}], HUNDEN responds to Heroic’s claims and states that his former players aren’t truthful and how they “contradict both themselves and ESIC’s verdict several times”.

- I can’t recognize much of what they have put together, but they deliver it nicely. They very well know that each of them, either participated in the exploitation of the bug, or knew about it. They also know that they have hidden the truth and lied along the way, and both the players and the management of the new organization must have a hard time looking themselves in the mirror.

They contradict both themselves and ESIC’s verdict several times in the video. First, they admit that they have talked about it in a TeamSpeak conversation, which was recorded by one of the players himself. Only to mention later in the video that they did not know anything about the case at all, HUNDEN stated to TV2 Sporten.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/cadiaN_1_o7ufdb","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: StarLadder Igor Bezborodov"}]

The case surrounding HUNDEN began back in May 2020 when the controversial coach decided to exploit the so-called spectator bug in two matches against Astralis and Spirit, which got him a 12-month ESIC ban. The disputed matter between him and Heroic was ignited again in August this year, owing to HUNDEN claiming that “some Heroic players knew about the cheating”.

Here – one and a half years after the very beginning– HUNDEN has come to a point where he feels, for his part, that the last word has been said.

- They (the Heroic players) have to live with the uncertainty that someone one day will speak out - but for my part, what has to be said, has been said. I regret that I've been naive, and I regret that I trusted people, who I tried to protect. It has been gruelling, and it would have been much easier for me if I just had shut up (…) I did what I could but I stood alone against a big machine.

You can read the entire article from TV2 Sporten right [link:{"url":"https://sport.tv2.dk/e-sport/2021-10-19-efter-kamp-mod-astralis-vidste-danske-stjerner-at-deres-traener-havde-snydt","isNewTab":true,"text":"here"}].

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The entire case between HUNDEN and Heroic can be a bit hard to understand, due to the case having so many different chapters. We have made this timeline of events so you can get a better understanding of the situation - You can find it right here.

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Astralis

The two current Heroic players Casper “cadiaN” Møller and Martin “stavn” Lund became aware of their former coach Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen’s cheating just hours after it happened.

This was revealed yesterday, when Heroic decided to break their silence in the disputed case by uploading a [link:{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW1pw2lsiAY","isNewTab":true,"text":"35-minute-long video statement"}], giving their side of the story.

The fact that the Heroic trio in stavn, niko, and the captain in cadiaN all knew about HUNDEN’s first usage of the prohibited spectator bug, but not decided to tell neither the Heroic organization nor ESIC about it, has made some experts and CS:GO figures question the morality of the certain players - One of them was the expert and analyst Janko "YNk" Paunović.

- This was the biggest takeaway for me as well, the chances of them being found guilty by ESIC were always slim to none due to lack of evidence but this speaks volumes about the mindset and moral compass of the players, YNk wrote and continued:

On top of that, they were perfectly fine with HUNDEN staying on as an "analyst" and then coming back as the full-time coach after the ban. If you were so concerned about doing what's right you should've cut ties with him immediately but no, you desired to win no matter the cost.

Milan Švejda, HLTV’s editor-in-chief also gave his perception on the matter, where he actually questions that not reporting a known cheating incident, is violating some of ESIC’s codes.

- I was pretty certain failure to report on wrongdoing is also somewhere in one of ESIC's codes, but I can't find it at the moment. But even if it isn't, it's at the very least a moral obligation, Švejda state on [link:{"url":"Švejda","isNewTab":true,"text":"Twitter"}].

Yesterday the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) came with their final verdict in the investigation of certain Heroic player’s complicity in Spectator Bug Scandal. The report concluded that four of the accused individuals (cadiaN, stavn, TeSeS, and b0rup) were innocent in all of HUNDEN’s claims – however, the last member Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen was sanctioned with a [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/esic-commisioner-niko-was-ruthlessly-manipulated-set-hunden/","isNewTab":true,"text":"minor punishment"}] after admitting his guilt.

Now – one day after the final ESIC report – the Heroic trio in Casper “cadiaN” Møller, Martin “stavn” Lund, and René “TeSeS” Madsen has decided to publish an official statement to tell and give account for their side of the story.  

- I think it has been very difficult to see these young players being accused of something that they haven’t done - just knowing that they are innocent and knowing the pressure they’ve received from the community (…) it’s been difficult not to say anything when you know you have such a strong case. I’m just proud that they handled it like this, cadiaN says.

The Heroic captain also touched on the phone call between HUNDEN and niko, where the coach allegedly has [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/esic-commisioner-niko-was-ruthlessly-manipulated-set-hunden/","isNewTab":true,"text":"“ruthlessly manipulated”"}] niko in an attempt to incriminate both the 23-year-old and his teammates.

- I have heard the phone call, which has been provided as evidence in this case. And I have to say that it makes me a bit sick to my stomach to hear how niko is being manipulated by someone who – he at least at that point – trusted. Because the ways HUNDEN tries to pull words out of his (niko) mouth, is something I found so disrespectful.

One of the key accusations in the case was that TeSeS had helped HUNDEN to exploit the spectator bug by boosting HUNDEN into an elevated position to enable the usage of the bug. The

- I never knew that HUNDEN had used the bug in the Astralis game, so I never had thought that he could have used that kind of bug – that thing could never occur to me. For me, that is something so far away from my world because I could never cheat, TeSeS states in the video.

You can watch the 35-minute long video statement from Heroic right here.

This Monday ESIC released a report in the case concerning Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen’s claims about certain Heroic players involvement in the Spectator Bug Scandal. In the finalized report, the 23-year-old Nikolaj “niko” Petersen has been found guilty after admitting his complicity in the cheating abuse.

The Esports Integrity Commissioner, Ian Smith touches on niko’s verdict in the 

, where Smith explains that niko has been “ruthlessly manipulated and set up” by HUNDEN in an attempt to incriminate himself or his former teammates. The newly-published report also revealed that niko has ADHD and Asperger’s Syndrome, something ESIC believes has been an essential factor to understand niko’s involvement.

“Upon consulting with the ADHD and Asperger’s Team at the National Autistic Society and the ADHD Foundation, ESIC was informed that this would have significantly impacted his ability to know right from wrong, make values-based decisions on his own and communicate effectively in a conventional way”

After ESIC’s statement this Monday, niko decided to open up about the case on Twitter, touching on how his personal health suddenly has become a public matter and how he regrets having trusted HUNDEN. In a long Twitter thread, niko states:

- My personal health has never been something I wanted to talk about in public. (…) at the time I did not understand the implications and severity of Hunden's actions. I regret to have trusted Hunden and I regret to not have understood the implications of his actions earlier than I did.

You can read the entire Twitter thread here:

Today the report from ESIC cleared four of the five 2020 Heroic players from any wrongdoings in the case of the spectator bug, that their coach Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen accused them all of being aware of.

The last member of the roster, 23-year-old Nikolaj "niko" Kristensen has been found guilty of breaching the ESIC Code of Conduct after he admitted his complicity in the cheating exploits of Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen.

- As a result of his breach of the ESIC Integrity Program, Mr. Kristensen has accepted the following sanction under a plea bargain agreement with ESIC. 

1) A severe public reprimand for his behavior. 2) A warning as to future conduct with severe consequences for any future breach of the ESIC Integrity Program. 3) Mandatory attendance at two one on one education sessions with the ESIC Commissioner of a minimum 30 mins duration each. 4) A minimum 15-minute check-in with the Commissioner every month for a minimum of six months to ensure he has understood and is complying with the ESIC Integrity Program and to offer him support for any issues he might be having in this respect.

The lenient penalties for Nikolaj "niko" Kristensen are a result of exceptional circumstances according to ESIC, who lists the factors that have played in at the sentencing. The information disclosed herein pertaining to Nikolaj "niko" Kristensen is disclosed with the permission of Mr. Kristensen communicated to ESIC via his agent 

- Mr. Kristensen has ADHD and Asperger’s Syndrome. Upon consulting with the ADHD and Asperger’s Team at the National Autistic Society and the ADHD Foundation, ESIC was informed that this would have significantly impacted his ability to know right from wrong, make values-based decisions on his own and communicate effectively in a conventional way. 

- Mr. Kristensen is heavily dependent on the people he trusts. He is naive and, by his own admission in conjunction with the objective evidence collated in the course of the investigation and enquiries (see 13.1.1) into the implications of his conditions, trusts too easily. 

- Mr. Kristensen trusted and respected Mr. Petersen implicitly and Mr. Petersen observably deliberately fostered and then exploited that trust at a timing that was convenient to him. 

- Mr. Kristensen, aware of his limitations in conventional day to day life, did not want to stand out as contrarian in any aspect of his life as a CS:GO professional at Heroic and so willingly went along with whatever Mr. Petersen proposed, without understanding the full implications or seriousness of what was occurring. 

- Mr. Kristensen's naivety extended to believing both that the exploitation of the spectator bug was no big deal and humorous and that all his teammates must know and be complicit in the same way he was. It turns out he did not know this as a matter of observable or ascertainable fact at all, but purely as an assumption.

ESIC Commissioner Ian Smith ends his report commenting on the relation between Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen and Nikolaj "niko" Kristensen.

- I have found myself increasingly sympathetic to Mr. Kristensen’s position in this matter in light of his conditions and personality. In particular, I believe that the much-publicised text and phone conversations in July 2021 with Mr. Petersen demonstrates that Mr. Kristensen was ruthlessly manipulated and set up by Mr. Petersen in an attempt to force Mr. Kristensen to verbally commit to a position which would incriminate both himself and his former teammates. The transcripts, when read in isolation, are damning and were, to a high degree, the basis on which I initially decided that the information provided by Mr. Petersen to ESIC justified an investigation. However, it is not just the words said during the conversation, but the timing, tone and intent that comes through when actually listening to it that are compelling for me. This conversation, initiated by Mr. Petersen and recorded by him in July of this year (after Mr. Petersen became aware that ESIC was investigating his sharing of Heroic’s data) without Mr. Kristensen’s knowledge or permission, shows only two things of relevance to me: First, that Mr. Kristensen is being set up to aid Mr. Petersen’s agenda to cause harm to Heroic and, second, that Mr. Kristensen assumes, without knowing, that his former teammates knew about the spectator bug at the time of those matches more than a year earlier. This is not, in my view, a basis for concluding that they actually knew.

You can read the full report [link:{"url":"https://esic.gg/content/media/2021/10/Heroic-Report-FINAL.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3rhpQezqe2Ko4Se2CFSLXWlHyR7T5rfEDIllw5M1ykwYC3NYp18j_c7ko","isNewTab":true,"text":"here"}].

The last two matches of the BLAST schedule today was: Heroic vs. Dignitas, and Complexity vs. OG. The prize was a semi-final spot in the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown and a chance to get one of the last two remaining spots at the BLAST Premier Fall Final. The other six spots have already been filled by Na'Vi, NIP, Vitality, FaZe, Astralis and BIG.

The first matchup between Heroic and Dignitas was a very close affair, with great team performances from both squads. Though Heroic took the victory 2-0, Dignitas actually had map point on Nuke before being forced into overtime, and eventually defeat.

The second matchup featuring Complexity was a different story on the other hand. Complexity had picked Mirage as their map, and still, OG completely fooled them and cleaned house; 16-0. "mantuu" and "valde" had standout performances with ratings of 2.09 and 1.91. On Complexity's side "blameF" was the only one who managed a rating above 1.0 through the series.

Tomorrow the two last quarter-finals will be played in what is sure to be two great matchups. It's MAD Lions vs. G2 at 3:30 pm, and Liquid vs. Virtus.pro at 6:30 pm.

Heroic – Dignitas (2-0) | BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2021

19-16 (Nuke) | {cflag:DK} refrezh – 1.29 Rating / 31-25 K-D / 87.2 ADR

16-13 (Overpass) | {cflag:DK} cadiaN – 1.33 Rating / 21-14 K-D / 81.3 ADR

MVP: {cflag:DK} refrezh – 1.27 Rating / 52-42 K-D / 81.5 ADR

Complexity – OG (0-2) | BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2021

0-16 (Mirage) | {cflag:PL} mantuu – 2.09 Rating / 25-8 K-D / 116.7 ADR

12-16 (Dust2) | {cflag:DK} niko – 1.43 Rating / 29-19 K-D / 103.6 ADR

MVP: {cflag:DK} niko – 1.49 Rating / 44-23 K-D / 103.1 ADR

refrezh

mantuu

compLexity Gaming

Team Dignitas

The profiled Europeans from OG has had a rather inconsistent and shaky 2021 so far. The Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen-led side has shown high peaks at events like ESL Pro League Season 14 and IEM Summer, just to suffer a devastating 17-20th place at IEM Cologne.

This weekend, OG missed out on the opportunity to compete at the prestigious BLAST Premier Fall Finals later on this year, as they lost two of their respective group stage matches against NAVI and FaZe.

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Before BLAST Premier Fall Groups began, we had the opportunity to sit down with OG’s powerful rifler Valdemar “valde” Vangså. In the interview, we spoke with the experienced Dane about this inconsistency on OG and whether it’s a talking point or not.

 The inconsistency for us isn’t a talking point in itself, but of course, it’s something that we are aware of because we have to go all the way. I think a lot of teams are inconsistent at the moment, and I believe it’s maybe because of every team being so good nowadays. If you show up to a tournament and you don’t play your a-game, and then you go up against any Top 20 team, you can lose on any given day.

This can maybe be a bit misleading in terms of inconsistency. For instance, in our ESL Pro League S14 run we went 5-0 in the groups, won our quarter-final match, and then we had one off-day in the semi-final against Vitality. But nobody remembers a 3-4th finish – people only remember the champions, valde states.

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- I think what we need to work on, is our mental fortitude. During our EPL semifinal against Vitality, we had some of our players fighting a bit of illness – this is definitely not an excuse on why we lost, it’s just to say that we had some unfortunate circumstances – But at the end of the day, we just have to play better. We have been so close on a number of occasions now, so I definitely expect us to lift a trophy at some point in time, because that’s all we play and practise for.

I know we have the potential to do it. It just requires that we play on 100% throughout an entire tournament.

Looking at the OG roster, you’ll see that the team doesn’t hold a superstar player in the likes of NAVI’s s1mple, dev1ce on NIP or G2’s NiKo. Something, valde also acknowledges.

 We have a really good team structure, and I believe we have a good mix between younger players and the more experienced players. I’m actually pretty optimistic about our future because I consider our roster very strong, but in the end, it’s all about showing it in tournaments.

A guy like flameZ definitely has the potential to be a hard-carry rifler in the future. He’s still so young and he’s barely played a LAN tournament yet, so I think that will come with time, valde says and starts to explain the importance of a certain OG trio.

Me, mantuu, and flameZ all need to play our very best if we want to win a tournament. I don’t think we have had a tournament yet, where the three of us all has hit our top ceiling. We have to play better individually to be honest.

{cflag:GB} mantuu | +278 KD-diff / 72.3 ADR / 1.17 Rating

{cflag:IL} flameZ | +72 KD-diff / 77.1 ADR / 1.12 Rating

{cflag:DK} valde | +150 KD-diff / 74.9 ADR / 1.10 Rating

{cflag:FI} Aleksib | -45 KD-diff / 72.5 ADR / 1.02 Rating

{cflag:DK} niko | -79 KD-diff / 66.8 ADR / 0.98 Rating

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/flamez_og_1_h2idkt","originalWidth":1920,"originalHeight":1080,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: OG"}]

valde clearly sees flameZ as future star player in CS:GO

OG's next challenges is at the Regional Major Ranking event at IEM Fall. In the important tournament, OG are placed in Group D alongside strong teams like Vitalitu and ENCE. The last Major qualifier is set to kick off on Wednesday the 29th next week. 

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Aleksib

Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen was one of the original 37 coaches who was banned by ESIC back in September 2020, owing to their involvement in the “spectator bug scandal”. Back then HUNDEN stated that he acted alone and no one knew about the cheating. 

	30 days	90 days
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niko

Player stats

Articles mentioning niko

niko talks IGL’ing and the prospect of returning to OG permanently

aizy, MSL and niko reunited for qualifier

"HUNDEN Gate" - Timeline of events

OG part ways with niko

Report: OG to Bench Danes

Pley of the Day: OG bamboozled by 200 IQ fake!

Heroic win nail-biter match against OG

OG come back in overtime against NIP

OG secure Group B final spot over MIBR

HUNDEN lashes out: Heroic must have a hard time looking at themselves in the mirror

Expert criticises Heroic players’ actions in “HUNDEN Gate”

Heroic players speak out after ESIC verdict: "It has been very difficult"

niko after ESIC report: I didn’t understand the implications and severity of HUNDEN’s actions

ESIC-commissioner: niko was ruthlessly manipulated and set up by Hunden

Heroic and OG advance to semi-finals at BLAST

valde on inconsistency: We have to play better individually and work on our mental fortitude

Anders on HUNDEN-case: I find it very questionable that the players didn’t knew about the cheating

OG qualifies for playoffs after marathon match

OG dismantles Virtus.pro in opening round of ESL Pro League

Aleksib: Our flow is much better

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