HUNDEN decides not to extend with Heroic: "I wish to begin a new chapter of my career"

The coach has also commented on allegations that he shared his team's strategy book with outside parties.

Nicolai "⁠HUNDEN⁠" Petersen has decided not to extend his contract with Heroic, the 30-year-old announced in a press release on Wednesday. The Dane chose not to reveal when his current deal with the organization expires when asked by HLTV.org.

"In the past few months, I have been in negotiations with Heroic about a contract renewal, but I have come to the realization that I wish to begin a new chapter of my career once my contract with Heroic expires," HUNDEN said in a statement amid reports that he could be joining Astralis as Danny "⁠zonic⁠" Sørensen's replacement in 2022.

The coach has seemingly already spent some time on the sidelines, as he did not travel with the team to Germany for IEM Cologne in early July for reasons the players and the organization never shared. Instead, Heroic's mental and performance coach, Troels "⁠robl⁠" Robl, stood behind the team during their matches at the event.

"Heroic and I have been a perfect match, but the recent turn of events is deeply regrettable," HUNDEN went on to explain before revealing that he had been accused of sharing his team's strategies behind the scenes.

"Recent rumors claim that I have shared Heroic's stratbook. This I can categorically deny. I have the biggest respect for Heroic, and I would never want to harm the team or in any way affect them negatively."

"The material I have shared is anti-strat material of opponents. This material was shared with colleagues from other teams in the context of sparring. Knowledge sharing is essential for me as a coach in respect to staying in the loop and developing. At no point in time has Heroic’s own tactics been shared or discussed."

HUNDEN has been a part of Heroic for well over a year, having joined the organization in early 2020 as a replacement for Frederik "⁠LOMME⁠" Nielsen. As the coach of the team — and the analyst during the period in which he was banned by ESIC for using the infamous coaching bug — he helped the organization reach new heights, as the Danish squad quickly became a consistent contender for deep runs and titles, most notably winning ESL One Cologne and DreamHack Open Fall in 2020 and ESL Pro League Season 13 in 2021.