HUNDEN: "I think we’ve succeeded in creating the next talent place in Denmark"

The Danish coach talked about Sashi's project ahead of their run at YaLLa Compass.

Nicolai "⁠HUNDEN⁠" Petersen swung by HLTV's microphone to talk about his time in Sashi and what he is bringing to the new roster that the organization just signed, the former Espionage squad, who are starting to break through the barrier in online qualifiers.

He did so, of course, in the context of YaLLa Compass 2024, which will kick off in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, and where Sashi will face both Astralis and HEROIC in the round-robin group stage.

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The 32-year-old, who was embroiled in several scandals regarding the coaching bug and his transfer to Astralis from HEROIC, is now ready to put the turbulent past behind him and believes Sashi is a good place to get a fresh start.

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HUNDEN, last year you joined Sashi. Can you tell us how it happened and what's your role on the team?

I was replaced in Astralis, so I took the opportunity to go to Sashi a year ago. In the beginning, I was there with Rejin, as well. We were going to build up Sashi to be the next Copenhagen Flames and Tricked because we had done that a lot in Denmark. We wanted to create the next talent place in Denmark and I think we've succeeded a lot on that part.

When looking at what team to join, did you want to join a Danish team, specifically, or were you considering international offers, as well?

I prefer to coach Danish teams, but it doesn't matter for me. I want to try to go on an international team at some point, but right now I like to be on Danish teams. I know how to treat the Danish players and stuff like that, so I want to do both things, but right now, I'm happy to stay here in Sashi, and I enjoy it a lot. I like the owners behind it, I like everything, and I have a lot of opportunities here.

You've had a good run online: Most notably, you won the Hellcase Cup, qualified for YaLLa Compass, and the Esports World Cup qualifier. What would you attribute your success to?

We picked up a really good team, the Espionage team, and they needed the last few things to make it happen. They were in the qualifier for Chengdu; they needed to win one game to qualify, but now they got me in, and I think I bring a lot of calmness to them.

We talked a lot about preparation and stuff like that. I think we took more preparation into the game plan and stuff like that. That's what I attribute it to, and I think that Sashi is in a good position now. We need to perform on LAN now and show that we can compete with the best teams in the world.

The team has been around for some time, but the spike of good results has happened just recently. What did you change to step up?

We changed a few things. We changed the approach a bit, we changed how we prepare for enemies. We also changed how we practice, as well. We changed a few things, but not a lot, actually. The EWC qualifier was my first tournament with the guys, so I just listened to them and came up with a lot of calmness because sometimes, when we play the game, it can get really crazy. I try to make them calm and I think that's the reason we won that qualifier.

Talking about you, the elephant in the room is that there was plenty of long-lasting controversy before you joined Sashi. After some time has passed, how do you reflect on the effect that it all had on your career?

Oh, I've reflected a lot on it. I think it was a hard situation. I stand up for using the coach bug; the past is the past, and we have to move forward now. Now, we attend LANs again. I think we did good when I was in Astralis, as well, we just needed the last few wins to make it really, really good. The past is the past, and we have to move forward, and I think we do that really well here in Sashi.

Your team's victories are quite convincing that there's some potential. You have two quite big LANs coming. Do you think you're in HUNDEN's revenge arc of some sort?

I want to do that. I've waited for a long time to get into a team like this. I really liked the tier 3 teams. The history with myself and the grind was really important — going from tier 3 to tier 2 to tier 1. I like to be here now. We're an underdog, but I think we can surprise some of our enemies, and I'm really looking forward to meeting both Astralis and HEROIC in the group stage.

The event features a round-robin format, and all matches are known in advance. Being an underdog, did you prioritize preparation against some teams that you have a bigger chance against?

We took the same approach. If we didn't know the enemies for the upcoming matches, we would go down and prepare. We had a bit more time here, and we knew some of the enemies, but with the recent changes in the update, with new incendiaries and new money, we had to consider focusing on some maps. We did the veto before, and during the practice up to this tournament, we focused on a few maps and played them on the new update.

I also wanted to ask you about Astralis. You're set to meet them in the group stage. device has taken the IGL role recently. What do you think of his transition, will it work out long-term?

I think it's going really well for him. I'm surprised to see him doing this well, but he has some really good teammates around him. stavn is really good, jabbi is helping him a lot, as well, so they have an amazing team. It's also easier to be an in-game leader on that team, but he's doing a good job, and I think they're playing some of the best CS we've seen from Astralis in a lot of years.

What does the removal of open qualifiers for the RMRs mean for your team?

I think we're 21 in the Valve ranking, so right now, it doesn't mean that much to us. I'm just happy that we're close to already being qualified for the closed qualifier. I think it's a bit weird not to see the open qualifiers because I actually enjoy watching the open qualifiers, but the recent one for the Copenhagen Major was terrible.

The brackets were not good enough, there were a lot of cheaters, and people were using their coach when they were not allowed to use coaching. All of these things are not good for Counter-Strike, so I think this is one of the opportunities they could use. In the end, I think the open qualifiers will come back when CS2 becomes a little bit better.

Considering your Valve ranking, were you happy to see that change in terms of your team's interest?

No, not really. I think that everyone should get a chance to qualify for the Major. I'm not happy about it, but it is what it is, and we need to take care of the integrity, as well. Most of it is not good, but for the moment, when we have so many issues in the game, I think it's good.