Spotlight on the Top 20: Ninjas in Pyjamas
The Swedish Ninjas have had another year without big results.
In this series, we take a look at the teams that finished 2020 in the Top 20 rankings. Today we take a look at number 17.
Name: Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP)
Origin: Sweden
NiP started the year by saying goodbye to the last remaining player of the golden era for the Swedish team. In January Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg left the team after a seven and a half year of partnership, that won them 24 events including a major in 2014. Instead, Tim "nawwk" Jonasson was signed as the team's new AWPer.
Active roster:
Hampus "hampus" Poser
Frederik "REZ" Sterner
Tim "nawwk" Jonasson
Nicolas "Plopski" Gonzalez Zamorra
Simon "twist" Eliasson
Transfers in 2020:
Out:
Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg
Jonas "Lekr0" Olofsson
Faruk Pita (Head Coach)
In:
Tim "nawwk" Jonasson
Hampus "hampus" Poser
Bjørn "THREAT" Pers
Highlight of the year:
The Semi-Final run at ESL One Cologne was their best result of the year. The Swedes eliminated Natus Vincere and Astralis on their way but fell in the Semi-Finals against Team Vitality. The performance solidified that the team play was at the right place for the Swedes, who perhaps instead lacked individual firepower and skills with only "Plopski" being rated in the Top 15 performers in the tournament.
Low point:
Besides a lot of early exits in the events, the low point of the year came when the former Coach of NiP admitted, that he had used the spectator bug back in 2018 in a Twitter-post in September. Faruk Pita left the team in January with Bjørn "THREAT" Pers taking over the role as the Head Coach.
The future of the Ninjas:
While the results in the past years have not been up to the standards, that we are used to see from the legendary Swedish team, maybe the future will bring some much-needed glory? Ninjas in Pyjamas has just announced, that they will turn their newly founded talent program "Path of a Ninja" into a full academy team. Erik “ztr” Gustafsson has been announced as their first signing.
Spotlight on the Top 20:
20: GODSENT[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/spotlight-top-20-godsent/"}] 19: Spirit [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/spotlight-top-20-spirit/"}] 18: CHAOS [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/spotlight-top-20-chaos/"}]
