Heroic remove NaToSaphiX, sign b0rup

In a statement by the Heroic IGL BlameF, the fact that 'roles didn’t pan out the way we wanted' was given as the sole reason behind the decision.

NaToSaphiX helped Heroic qualify for ESL One: Cologne, ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals and IEM Chicago, consistently placing within the top eight at the LAN portions of these top tier events.

In recent times, NaTo had the AWP role taken from him, with Patrick "es3tag" Hansen making the $4,750 investments. At ESL One Cologne, NaTo explained how the shift in roles was hard to adapt to.

"As the AWP, I was playing support for Banana or I was supporting Mid, so I’ve got a good understanding of those two areas, but Aps? You never go Aps with the AWP and because of that, I really don’t know what I’m doing so that’s something I need to improve. So it’s not the rifle that’s haunting me, it’s the fact that my roles are so different and I have no experience with them."

- Niels Christian "NaToSaphiX" Sillassen, ESL One Cologne 2019

Heroic went on to announce their signing, b0RUP from the Tricked Esports roster that recently entered the top 20 under the leadership of Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen. Rumours suggest that the Heroic organisation was willing to pay a significant sum to acquire the 19-year-old.

This change comes as Heroic recently brought in LOMME as their new coach, replacing peacemaker who was seemingly removed by the organisation for unknown reasons. Following a rebrand and recent success, Heroic have been looking to maintain their top fifteen position to ensure invites to tournaments for the foreseeable future.

Daniel "mertz" Mertz, Heroic's AWP pickup before NaTo, remains on the bench for the organisation. He may yet return to an active lineup with a Danish shuffle seemingly starting early, with former OpTic players looking for homes and now NaTo has joined the list of Danish free agents too.