Heroic cadiaN: “I always felt like there’s some unfinished business, and as long as I feel that, I’m gonna keep trying.”

After having found a home with the Danish organization Heroic back in 2019, CadiaN took off on a ride toward stellar success. And although he currently belongs among the elite of the CS:GO esports scene, his career has been a long route, no short of ups and downs. In fact, he climbed the Counter-Strike mountain top twice before reaching the peak he’s seeing today. 

How does Casper “cadiaN” Møller find the drive to continue despite obstacles on the road? What fuels the veteran Danish IGL to never give up? We asked him! 

Climbing to the top

During his over-a-decade-long professional CS:GO career, cadiaN has played for 15 different organizations, including FunPlus Phoenix, SK Gaming, and mousesports, among others. He was there when the history of the CS:GO esports scene was written, attending the first two Majors before a period of finding his place with various orgs.

He first joined Heroic in late 2019, when he started his quest for a perfect roster. And things seemed to have been working perfectly, as the Danish squad quickly started climbing their way to the top, dominating the 2020 online CS:GO era. However, the momentum of the Danish IGL was halted by the infamous coaching bug, which the Heroic coach HUNDEN also got caught up in. 

Driving force 

It took a while for Heroic to reclaim their space in the scene and climb their way back to the top, but in the end, cadiaN lead his team towards the second-place finish at IEM Rio Major 2022, followed by lifting the BLAST Premier Fall Final 2022 trophy in front of his home crowd in Copenhagen — something that not many players get to experience.

So what was cadiaN’s driving force during all of these years? “My mother has always been a very strong fighter and I think that’s definitely something that I’ve taken with me,” said cadiaN in an interview with Fragster. “Also, I just really like winning a lot. I like developing interactions inside a team creating camaraderie and friendships and stuff like this.”

That aside, quitting has just never really been an option for the Danish player. “I love competing, I love getting better,” he continued. “And maybe my path has been like a bit of a rollercoaster, and other people might have reached higher. But maybe they’ve also had some downs, which they never came back from.”

Indeed, the Counter-Strike esports scene tends to be turbulent, and to get to the top of it twice is a rare achievement. Admitting he’s proud of his professional path, cadiaN added: “I just always felt like there’s some unfinished business, and as long as I feel that, I’m gonna keep trying.”

Leadership qualities 

Besides the vital driving force and desire to always grow and improve, a good IGL on his mission of inspiring young players also naturally needs some leadership qualities. Knowing all the strats and making tough decisions is surely needed, but being a good role model and providing support for teammates is invaluable.

To the question of whether cadiaN is more like a father or a brother to his teammates, he replied: “I think I’m probably a little bit of both. I think it depends on what time you ask the question. Maybe if it’s game-related, that’s one thing, but if it’s outside the game, that’s a little different. But I obviously take a lot of responsibility within the team.” 

With so much experience in his career, it comes very naturally to the 27-year-old: “I’ve been a leader of my teams for plus 10 years, and obviously, you develop some leadership skills along the way. Cause if you ask some of my teammates eight years ago, I’m definitely not the same leader that I am today.” 

According to his words, it can be hard to expect someone young to lead the way. “Maybe inside the server, but outside the server, it’s completely different,” pointed out cadiaN.  

So what does he think is the most important for being a good team leader? “I’m the guy who takes care of everyone,” he said. “Give someone a hug if they’re sad or cheer them up if I see that they just need a little bit of a tap on their shoulder and stuff like this. I try to lead in that way, and also to take some of the pressure off the young guys.”

“It’s been a good ride so far,” he concluded.