xKacpersky posted that NIP “did not deserve” to make it to the IEM Cologne Major.
NIP’s star rifler has put out that they are out on contention from qualifying to the upcoming Major after their elimination from Stake Ranked Season 1.
This corresponds with MischiefCS2’s analysis stating that NIP needed to get either 2nd or 3rd place at the event in order to qualify.
NIP’s 2026: So close, yet so far
NIP has been the victim of losing one close match after another, and their Major dream-ending results were the same. They fell into the lower bracket of Stake Ranked Season 1 by losing two 11-13 maps to GamerLegion after being up a map. They then lost to HEROIC 0-2 after having map point on the first map after a comeback. They crumbled in the second map after that.
Even NIP’s captain, Snappi, has shown frustration that they could not close series for reasons that escape him. After falling at BLAST Rotterdam in close series against PARIVISION and Liquid, they needed to play “perfectly” to reach the Major, but were far from that.
