Danish CSGO squad MAD Lions have allegedly benched captain and in-game leader Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen, according to a report from HLTV. The report states that HUNDEN is no longer on the team’s active line-up due to “internal issues.”
The benching shortly follows MAD Lions’ run at IEM Katowice, where the team placed 9th to 12th. Despite the placement, the team is currently ranked as the 11th best team in the world according to HLTV. The team is also set to compete against Sprout in the Europe Minor closed qualifiers in just two days. This leaves the squad little time to find a replacement for HUNDEN.
HUNDEN’s time with MAD Lions, Tricked Esport
HUNDEN has been part of the MAD Lions squad since the team competed under the Tricked Esport banner. The roster was acquired in December 2019 by OverActive Media to play for the freshly rebranded MAD Lions organization. OverActive also owns Overwatch League franchise Toronto Defiant and Call of Duty League franchise Toronto Ultra.
Before coming to MAD Lions, HUNDEN joined Tricked Esport in January 2019 alongside current teammate Frederik “acoR” Gyldstrand. During his time with Tricked, the team placed 3rd – 4th at the Copenhagen Games and DreamHack Open Summer. Additionally, the squad took first place at UCC Summer Smash and V4 Future Sports Festival Budapest that year.
Also worth noting on his competitive CSGO resume is a 1st place finish at ESL Meisterschaft: Winter 2017. At this time, HUNDEN played for ALTERNATE aTTaX.
At the moment, neither HUNDEN nor MAD Lions have made an official statement regarding his status with the team. Meanwhile, the team is also set to compete in Season 1 of FLASHPOINT, which starts later this month. As one of the founding teams of the new CSGO league, it makes the timing of this alleged benching even more hectic.
We’ll be competing in FLASHPOINT, the first franchised league of CS:GO with the best teams in the world.
MAD Lions will be the only Spanish club to be part of the league. 🇪🇸 #goMAD pic.twitter.com/gqesRZbjTf
— Project MAD Lions (@ProjectMADLions) February 5, 2020
How do you think MAD Lions will perform without HUNDEN? Let us know in the comments, and stay tuned to Daily Esports for all your CSGO updates.
