CadiaN Shares How the Coach Bug Scandal Affected Heroic's CS:GO Team

The 'Coach Bug Scandal' was one of the most controversial incidents that rocked the CS:GO competitive scene in 2020. One of the teams caught right in the middle of this scandal was the Danish esports organization, Heroic. According to the team's in-game leader (IGL), Casper "cadiaN" Møller, Heroic had become the center of attention as the case unfolded. The situation cut short their celebrations of having won ESL One Cologne 2020, which is their biggest trophy in CS:GO so far.

Nicolai "⁠HUNDEN⁠" Petersen - Head Coach of Heroic, was among the first names that surfaced as a part of the initial investigation by the ESIC (Esports Integrity Commission), and this is where the problems started for the players and the organization.

In a recent interview with Dexerto, cadiaN spoke about what Heroic went through during that time and the impact it had on the entire team, as he went on to state that “For me, we’ve been the main target throughout all of this”.

CadiaN talks about the impact of coach bug scandal on Heroic's CS:GO team

Heroic was an underdog going into the ESL One Cologne 2020, which was being conducted online, split into four separate regional divisions. Not many expected the Danish team to make it through the Group Stage, but they did and went on to whitewash Team Vitality in the grand finals which shocked the entire CS:GO community as they lifted the coveted trophy.

But the celebration was short-lived with news about the coach bug scandal being brought to light shortly thereafter. HUNDEN was among the first ones to be caught abusing the bug, following which he was handed a 12-month ban (later reduced to 8) by the ESIC.

However, this was enough to tarnish Heroic's image as a worthy team, with many in the community targeting them.

“We win Cologne, this is our biggest trophy yet and one of the biggest trophies you can win in Counter-Strike. We wanted to focus on winning, but the other people were focused on the winners (Heroic), obviously. We got so much attention from that,” said cadiaN, in an interview with Dexerto, “I think that was one of the most difficult parts. We were used to being one of the teams that would never draw headlines, and now we were winning and the drama hit.”

However, this was just the beginning as HUNDEN, following his comeback with Heroic after the ban, was embroiled in another serious incident with the organization. An internal investigation along with a separate investigation by the ESIC found HUNDEN guilty of sharing confidential and sensitive information, such as the details of Heroic's strat book, prior to IEM Cologne 2021. All this led to a two-year ban being sanctioned against the 30-year-old.

Despite facing all of this prior to the PGL Major Stockholm 2021, Heroic reached the semifinals of the tournament, fighting all the way through to the Challengers Stage - the first qualifying round of the event.

CadiaN revealed that the team had a lot of negative pressure, they would come across five positive comments, but the focus would always be dragged towards the negative one. Despite all this, the way Heroic performed at the Major, making it all the way to the playoffs which took place in front of a live audience, “I think we played amazingly and the young guys really handled the pressure well,” expressed cadiaN.

Labeling this feat as "super important" cadiaN and his team went on to close the year as the fifth-best CS:GO team in the world, according to the HLTV CS:GO world rankings. They have now secured a slot in the semifinals of the currently ongoing IEM Katowice 2022 and are looking like one of the prime contenders to possibly win the tournament.

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