hampus on shifting rosters at NIP: It’s not the best I would say, but it’s out of my control
In a press session, the NIP captain admits that playing without a permanent fifth isn't an ideal way of doing it.
In April this year, the iconic Swedes from Ninjas in Pyjamas (NIP) cashed out big when they acquired the superstar Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz from Astralis. However, despite the strong addition of the Danish AWPer, NIP hasn’t found the perfect lineup yet.
Since the start of February, NIP has played every tournament with a stand-in from their academy team Young Ninjas, being either Erik “ZTR” Gustafsson or Linus “LNZ” Holtäng. The org explained the decision by stating that they are “trying to find a sustainable fifth while constantly exploring the boundaries of how much change can be done to the core of those five”
In a press session by ESL, we asked the in-game leader on the team, Hampus “hampus” Poser about how it’s to operate in such a system as the IGL.
- It’s not the best I would say, but it’s out of my control and there’s nothing I can do about it - I just have to work with what I got. Having one permanent guy is obviously better because then he knows everything. In the beginning, when we got LNZ, I called some rounds, where he didn’t know them. It was just a bit messy I must say.
However, after some more time with LNZ, he knows everything so it’s fine.
The head coach Björn “THREAT” Pers also gave his perception of the situation, where he stated that their plan “always has been to find a permanent fifth”, where THREAT continues by explaining that “there has been a slightly exaggerated narrative, and I think it might be due to a bit harsh decision by me, where we switched so briefly between the tournaments”
“(…) Right now, we are looking to find the best five-man lineup that we possibly can get”, the NIP coach concludes.
You can see the interview with THREAT and hampus down below.
In the same press session, LNZ himself expressed his thought about the circumstances of being a stand-in.
You kind of have to live with it. I think you can’t really do it in another way than that. You just have to accept that everyone is going to talk about it, and just focus on the game instead.
NIP event results | 2021
IEM Cologne | 9-12th (LNZ as a fifth)
Gamers Without Borders | 5-6th (LNZ as a fifth)
BLAST Premier Spring Finals | 4th (LNZ as a fifth)
IEM Summer | 7-8th (LNZ as a fifth)
Flashpoint 3 | 2nd (ZTR as a fifth)
ESL Pro League Season 13 | 3-4th (ZTR as a fifth)
Pinnacle Cup | 5-8th (ZTR as a fifth)
Snow Sweet Snow 2 | 5-8th (ZTR as a fifth)
IEM Katowice | 13-16th (ZTR as a fifth)
BLAST Premier Spring Groups | 4-6th (ZTR as a fifth)
cs_summit 7 | 5-8th
