K0nfig joins Heroic for BLAST Premier World Final in Abu Dhabi
The Norwegian CS:GO team Heroic has confirmed that Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke will replace Martin “stavn” Lund at the BLAST Premier World Final in Abu Dhabi. The team said it wanted to give Martin a break after a long year full of competitions.
“We believe Kristian is the best possible replacement when exploring our options,” Heroic said in a statement. “Despite not having ‘stavn’ with us for the World Final, we hope to continue our good form and Kristian is a great player that is hungry to show the world he has a place in the absolute top of CS: GO.”
K0nfig’s Malta incident
K0nfig previously played for Astralis, the most prolific CS: GO Major team. Kasper Hvidt, Astralis’ director of sports, said that Astralis had agreed to terminate k0nfig’s contract on October 10 to give the Danish star “space and time.” The decision came following a brawl with a club promoter in Malta during Season 16 of the ESL Pro League and a failure to qualify for the IEM Rio Major.
K0nfig explained that he had gotten into a fight after being denied entry to a Paceville nightclub where he had wanted to meet his teammates.
“Instead of just saying no, he dissed my tattoos and said that it was ‘his fucking club’ and that I was a “tattooed loser” and that there was no way he would let me in, except if I paid 5,000 euros for a table,” he wrote.
“He was aggressive and I felt humiliated so we got into an argument.”
Looking back, k0nfig admitted that he deeply regretted confronting the nightclub promoter and should have stepped away and gone home. k0nfig also said that being teamless and out of action for an unknown time had left him in a very dark place since the altercation.
In an interview on November 11, the 25-year-old said he was ready to return to action and that he had been working on his issues with the assistance of a therapist, saying, “I want to play.”
“I feel like my life right now is the perfect situation. I’ve messed up. I’ve forgiven [myself]. I definitely think that it’s the right call,” he added.
He returned to Denmark on September 22 and underwent two surgeries to heal his broken ankle. k0nfig left Astralis after less than a year on the team.
Heroic preparation for BLAST Premier World Final
Heroic is currently one of the most successful teams in the world, finishing second at the IEM Rio Major. A week later, Heroic won the BLAST Premier Fall Finals CS:GO tournament, defeating FaZe Clan 2-1 in the grand final. Heroic won $200,000 of the $425,000 total prize pool, while FaZe took home only $85,000 for second place.
Heroic rose to prominence in 2020 and 2021, quickly becoming known as one of the best CSGO teams. In 2021, Heroic had a successful year, winning large sums of money in some of the biggest CSGO tournaments. Heroic won the ESL Pro League Season XII at the start of that year before recording successes in many S- and A-tier events.
Many CSGO fans attribute Heroic’s success to key team members. Casper “CadiaN” Møller is the in-game captain and primary force for the Heroic team. With the addition of k0nfig, many expect CadiaN to lead Heroic to another successful year in 2022.
From December 14 to 18, the world’s eight best Counter-Strike teams will gather in Abu Dhabi for BLAST Premier’s largest tournament. This year’s event, co-hosted by ADGaming, will be held in front of a live audience at Yas Island’s Etihad Arena.
