CadiaN Benched by Heroic, and Other Moves in Professional Counter-Strike
Heroic announced yesterday that their in-game leader (IGL) Casper “cadiaN” Møller would be moving to the bench moving forward due to “differing visions for the future of the team,” Heroic stated.
CadiaN gave more information on the split in an interview with Dexerto “I think they (roster changes in the break) would have made us more competitive in the big tournaments and the big stages and they (Heroic) saw it a different way,” cadiaN stated, “I wanted some changes and some people wanted a different way.”
The move came as a surprise to many professional Counter-Strike (CS) fans as cadiaN has been on Heroic since 2019 and has become the face of the organization in the pro CS space.
This move comes after Heroic had their worst finish in a major event getting knocked out of the Group Stage of ESL Pro League Season 18 with many fans calling for René “TeSeS” Madsen to be dropped from the team.
CadiaN seems to have a positive outlook on the benching and with his long list of achievements in the professional CS scene a team is sure to pick him up soon enough.
Potential landing spots for the 28-year-old AWPer and IGL are Team Liquid, Ninjas in Pyjamas, GamerLegion, Astralis and Fnatic.
Other moves were made after the release of Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) as many teams look to reshape rosters in anticipation of how competition will change with the new game engine and mechanics.
Apeks sent Martin “STYKO” Styk to the bench and brought up Ådne “sense” Fredriksen from their academy team Apeks Rebels. STYKO had an impressive performance at the BLAST Paris Major earlier this year but has not been able to put out the same performance in the events following the major.
In the Asian region, TYLOO would sign 5YCLONE after their impressive showing against Tier One teams at ESL Pro League Season 18.