Heroic Bench Stavn And Jabbi in CS2 Contract Drama
Danish esports organization Heroic announced that Martin Lund aka ‘stavn’ and Jakob Nygaard aka ‘jabbi,’ have been temporarily benched from their Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) roster. The shocking decision by the organization was made after another member, Casper Møller aka ‘cadiaN’ was removed on 4th October 2023. According to Heroic, it was ‘stavn’ and ‘jabbi’ that initiated the removal of ‘cadiaN’ after making an ultimatum post the ESL Pro League. However, Heroic allegedly agreed to the deal and benched Møller provided the other two would extend their contract before it ran out in 10 months’ time.
Despite the claims by Heroic, no such contracts have been signed and during this temporary leave, a rival organization, Astralis, is interested in signing the two players to their CS2 roster. Amid the rumors, Heroic has made it clear that they are open to having discussions with other organizations that ‘have an understanding of their players’ market value,’ although their goal still remains to bring back Lund and Nygaard to the starting lineup.
The Ultimatum from ‘stavn’ and ‘jabbi’:
As per the statement released by Heroic, it seems that once the ESL Pro League was over, players ‘stavn’ and ‘jabbi’ pushed for player ‘cadiaN’ to be replaced in the team. This push came unexpectedly to the Heroic’s management team, allegedly. While efforts were made to reach a middle ground, the entire situation boiled down to an ultimatum where Heroic had to choose between keeping cadiaN and the rest of the team.
Players ‘stavn’ and ‘jabbi’ made it clear that if Heroic let go of ‘cadiaN’ then they would extend their contracts. Given that Heroic was given a clear intention by the two players of extending their contract they amicably parted with ‘cadiaN’ and allowed him to pursue a new path. As soon as the decision was made to let ‘cadiaN’ go, new contracts for ‘stavn’ and ‘jabbi’ were presented. However, on the same day the new contracts were given, the two players also communicated that they had made future plans to join rival team Atralis. By this time, there were still ten months left before their contracts with Heroic expired.
Needless to say, the exit of Casper Møller aka ‘cadiaN’ who was the face of the organization, had left the entire Counter-Strike 2 esports scene in shock. But it was later revealed to the community that the split was amicable and was also because Møller wanted to pursue a different path. Commenting on the exit, Møller said, “I wanted some changes and some people wanted a different way.”
Why did ‘stavn’ and ‘jabbi’ get benched?
In order to handle the ongoing issue and so that a long-term solution to the problem can be reached, Heroic decided that it was in the best interest for all concerned parties that ‘stavn’ and ‘jabbi’ would be temporarily benched from the Counter-Strike 2 roster. However, as mentioned earlier, they are still interested in retaining the two players. Heroic stated “Our performance staff have made a plan to support their potential return to the organization.”
When ‘cadiaN’ was benched from the roster, Peter Rasmussen aka ‘dupreeh’ was brought in as a temporary replacement for him until the end of 2023. Now, Heroic will now use the MOUZ NXT duo, William Kjærsgaard aka ‘sirah’ and Christoffer Storgaard aka ‘Chr1zN’ for the upcoming matches in the Roobet Cup and Thunderpick World Championship. The current temporary lineup for Heroic will debut against team Aurora in the Roobet Cup.
Heroic Roster for Counter-Strike 2:
- Denmark Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen
- Denmark René “TeSeS” Madsen
- Denmark Rasmus “sjuush” Beck
- Denmark Christoffer “Chr1zN” Storgaard (stand-in)
- Denmark William “sirah” Kjærsgaard (stand-in)
- Sweden Richard “Xizt” Landström (coach)
Benched Members:
- Denmark Casper “cadiaN” Møller (benched)
- Denmark Martin “stavn” Lund (benched)
- Denmark Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard (benched)
What were ‘stavn’ and ‘jabbi’ responses?
While neither of the two players directly addressed the statement made by the esports organization, there was a vague post made by Martin Lund aka ‘stavn’ regarding the situation. It was posted on his X (Twitter) account.
Commenting, “Gotta love the world we live in. What is the saying? Truth always prevails,” Lund made it seem like Heroic was not being a hundred percent honest in their statement. This same sentiment was picked up by their many followers with one of them directly commenting, “So are you saying your organization is lying in their statement?”
Many of the replies from the community were not in favor of the player’s decision, with one saying, “You have a bright career ahead of you. Backstabbing friends will (not) take you far in life.” While others were more upset in their statement, “What truth have you said? You haven’t denied any of this at all? An entire organization has called you out and you don’t say anything? That is almost a career-ender in the hands of certain players.”
All-in-all until a final decision has been made, there is no telling which way the wind will blow in this situation. So, stay tuned for more updates.
