Ex-Heroic coach Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen has returned to CS:GO and joined Astralis as the Head Analyst.
“First and foremost, I am pleased that we have now come to an agreement with Nicolai, who is an extremely skilled and sought-after capacity. He will, without a doubt, empower our analytical work. We enter 2023 with a stronger team and a modernized performance organization, where we have invested in both more and exceptionally talented profiles. Of course, we are aware of Nicolai’s history and what he has been through, but I have no doubt that as a person and as the extremely skilled analyst he is, he will be a great asset to our team and organization,” Astralis’ Director of Sports Kasper Hvidt said.
Hvidt alluded to the HUNDEN ban story in his statement. The Esports Integrity Commission had imposed a two-year ban on HUNDEN on August 19, 2021, when it became known that he shared Heroic strategies with a member of the competing roster before IEM Cologne 2021. By undertaking these actions, he violated several of ESIC’s rules and breached their code of conduct. But in December 2022, ESIC canceled the ban and allowed HUNDEN to return to the industry.
“It has been a long process, and there have been many things we had to discuss with my role and everything I have been through. Now I’m just happy it’s all in place, and I already feel how much it means to me to be up and running and to have talented people around me who trust and support me. Astralis is something special in Denmark, and having seen it all from the outside with the enormous support the team has always received, it feels great to be a part of it all,” HUNDEN said.
