Why Heroic’s Decision to Bench refrezh might backfire

Heroic are currently ranked seventh globally and their recent performance has been great. However, after the excellent results they accomplished in 2021, it’s understandable why the management of the team is not entirely satisfied.

The Danish squad went from finishing 3rd – 4th at PGL Major Stockholm to finishing 5th – 8th at PGL Major Antwerp. They did compensate for it by winning Pinnacle Cup Championship immediately after, but that probably only convinced the org’s decision-makers that the team had been underperforming.

The risks

Heroic’s result at the latest CS:GO Major was certainly not the one they were hoping for. But we need to keep in mind that they had to play against Natus Vincere, who nearly won the trophy and had entered the race as the winners of the previous Major.

The stats of Ismail “refrezh” Ali in that loss against Na’Vi, along with the matches that followed, do indeed make you think that he is not as strong as the other members of his team. But stats aren’t everything and it’s not certain that Heroic would have won their latest trophy if he hadn’t been part of the squad.

Heroic is not the first org in the history of esports or even CS:GO that tries to go from good to great by making roster changes. In many cases, such changes prove to be counterproductive. Instead of leading to improved results, they lead to a “surprising” string of failures.

Even if the player who joins is considerably stronger than the one who got benched, the fact that the new player is not familiar with the mindset of the rest of the roster can have disastrous consequences, at least in the short term.

Refrezh spent nearly 500 days playing for Heroic and his understanding of how the other four members like to play is most likely far greater than that of whoever ends up taking his place. To successfully replace him, the organization will need to bring in someone whose talent can compensate for that.

What’s Next

It’s likely that Heroic already has a new player in mind and there’s a good chance it’s Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz or some other legend of this esport. There’s no point in replacing refrezh without making a significant upgrade, so we can expect someone of the highest caliber to join the organization in the coming weeks.

As for refrezh, it’s hard to anticipate where he’ll go next. He’s certainly skilled and he proved that he is capable of playing at the highest level. Now he needs to find a top 20 team who can both afford and make good use of his skills.

Header: ESL|Stephanie Lieske