HEROIC will once again be attending a LAN without their initial AWPer, as Kazakh sniper Alimzhan “alkaren” Bitimbai has been forced to sit out the upcoming DraculaN tournament due to visa complications. This is the latest in a string of travel-related issues that are quickly turning a promising signing into a nightmare for the Danish organization.
In his place will be Simon “yxngstxr” Boije, the benched rifler who has already been called upon several times as a last resort stand-in and will once again be tasked with carrying the AWP. This forces yet another role change within a roster that had been spending the early stages of the season practicing with Alkaren as the key component of their big green, only to have that strategy blown apart by red tape.
This is not a one-off occurrence but rather a pattern. Alkaren had also previously sat out of BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 and IEM Krakow 2026 due to visa issues, which meant that HEROIC had to go to the tournament short-handed, with yxngstxr covering for him in both instances. Rumors surrounding PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026 suggested that this was already the third Tier-1 event that he has sat out since joining the team, which further emphasizes the severity of the situation for both the player and the team.
On the surface, HEROIC has continued to express its support for its sniper, reiterating that his absence is in no way related to his performance and that the long-term strategy remains the same, which is to fully integrate him into the team once the paperwork is finally in order. However, the reality is that with each LAN that he misses, the situation becomes increasingly frustrating from a competitive standpoint, as practice reps are now divided between two different rosters, on-server chemistry is constantly being disrupted, and a young, rebuilding team is now forced to redefine itself even at the LAN level.