Currently ranked as the 73rd best team in the world, according to the official HLTV rankings, the Turkish organization Sangal is now one step closer to finalizing their active roster. Joining the two German and one Turkish player at Sangal is the young Ninja by the name of Linus "LNZ" Holtäng. 

The 20-year-old Swede has left Young Ninjas in order to secure a new start to his CS2 journey. Speaking on his decision to sign with Sangal, "LNZ" states his satisfaction and excitement with having joined the Turkish organization: 

The new-look Sangal roster will make their debut at the Tunderpick World Championship Europe Series 1 event later this week. The current Sangal roster looks as follows: 

Sangal

The recent news of both OG and Fnatic putting their academy projects on hold came to me at first as a surprise, for me the academy projects as a whole were more successful than what I had expected initially. Their tournaments had a considerable amount of viewership, the players were given exposure and support and, on top of that, top tier players were being produced (as it is shown in both b1t and m0NESY rookie year’s performance).

However, my perspective was that of a spectator, I never stopped to think about how profitable these projects were and the “risk” involved in them. If we look at the players who transitioned the best to tier 1 (m0NESY, b1t, xertioN, JDC, torzsi) we also have to look at the players who had a tough transition.

Just to clarify, a decrease in rating when transitioning into tier 1 is both expected and normal, even the players that I used as examples of a good adaptation to tier 1 suffer from it, therefore, it is not the only indicator to determine if the player managed to adapt or not to the highest level of counter-strike.

The best examples of players not adapting completely to tier 1 are, in my opinion, MistR, ztr, LNZ and phzy, however it is not completely on them that they didn’t manage to adapt. In all cases they were called to fill a gap for the time being, in other words, they were not supposed to be there, which is a completely opposite case to the players that I mentioned did adapt well. In the case of the three ex-NIP players they were called into a team that already had structure and identity problems, which only got worse when device took the mental health break. For MistR it was moreless the same, Astralis was already struggling to find a consistent way to win as they heavily depended on both blameF and k0nfig to have stellar performances and when the latter was let go due to some issues the lack of firepower was more evident than ever, and Astralis knew MistR wouldn’t fill that gap.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"misc/Can_he_replace_k0nfig_mukjnt","originalWidth":1280,"originalHeight":720,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg"}]

See the pattern yet? When the team wants the player to permanently be part of the roster (G2 signing m0NESY, MOUZ adapting the system to the ex-academy players, Na’Vi trying out b1t before fully introducing him) they end up adapting well to tier 1 and in some cases reaching super-star levels of performance and when the team only promotes the academy players in order to temporarily fill a gap these players are not given the chance nor the necessary support to fully transition.

We have already seen that the academy project can produce plenty of players different in skill and style, and these have varying results that are directly affected by the organization’s commitment on said player, but what about the players that are never called to fill a gap or to be promoted permanently to the main roster? 

Without exact numbers of players and staff’s salaries and how much revenue the team as a whole generates we will never know for sure if the academy projects are profitable or not (or if it is result-dependent). However, the fact that  OG and Fnatic (two well established organizations not only in CS:GO) have decided to put them on hold tells that at the very least it is an investment of both time and money to consider and some organizations might just want to be extra safe.

One can only speculate and hope, maybe they will resume their academy projects in the near future, maybe they won’t, I don’t really know, but I do hope that this is not the beginning of the end for the academy projects as a whole because I think they are really healthy for the professional scene and offer unique opportunities.

MistR

phzy

Natus Vincere

Fnatic

MOUZ

Ninjas in Pyjamas

G2 Esports

With Erik "ztr" Gustafsson being loaned out to the new GODSENT roster, Young Ninjas needed a new in-game leader. And who else to turn to than their old IGL Linus "⁠LNZ⁠" Holtäng?

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- We get LNZ back, another player who's developed a lot here also winning a trophy with us, so we are definitely ready for the new season, NIP state on Twitter.

Here the announcement of Erik "ztr" Gustafsson extending his contract while being loaned up also was revealed.

The 20-year-old Swede has joined his old teammates after being sidelined and eventually released from Young Ninjas in August 2022. LNZ has also been part of the main roster in NIP in 2021, where he ended his tenure at the senior squad by winning IEM Fall, which is still the only trophy won by the Swedish Ninjas since 2017.

Young Ninjas recently won WePlay Academy League Season 6, so it is with great expectations, that Linus "⁠LNZ⁠" Holtäng will take over the reins from ztr.

Young Ninjas

After having been a part of the NIP organization for more than a year, Linus "LNZ" Holtäng, Love "phzy" Smidebrant, and Anton "Sapec" Palmgren are leaving the Swedish academy team.

"LNZ" and "phzy" have both had the pleasure of being temporary stand-ins on the main Ninjas squad, and are now looking to get in touch with other organizations.

"Sapec" on the other hand has already found a new home with Hellslayers, a team that features Swedish veterans "flusha" and "JW".

With three going out, the Young Ninjas have three new ones coming in. The new Ninjas are 17-year-old Adam "adamb" Ångström, 17-year-old Max "maxster" Jansson, and 15-year-old Adrian "7EMPORARY" Mehrara.

Sapec

If you ask the Counter-Strike community which nation has been the most dominant and paramount in the history of the game, the majority will most likely point towards one certain European country.

The Swedish CS:GO scene has produced a myriad of legendary figures in Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg, Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund, and many others. The big Scandinavian nation, embodied in Fnatic and Ninjas in Pyjamas, also dominated the very beginning of CS:GO, winning four out of the first six Major Championships.

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However, every great dynasty has its end, and for the Swedish CS:GO scene, it was no different.

We have sat down with f0rest to hear what he believes caused the collapse of the great Swedish dynasty, and why the Swedish CS:GO scene isn’t as dominant anymore. When speaking with the former NIP superstar, one particular aspect seems to appear – The unwillingness to grind your way to the top.

- The Swedish players feel kind of entitled because Sweden always has been presented as one of the best nations in Counter-Strike. Because of that, some people expect to be a great star player right off the bat and to join an already tier-1 team. But people are not fighting together as a team to reach that goal collectively.

The quality and the grind that Danish players are doing, is what’s lacking in Sweden. The Swedish scene hasn’t really committed to the lower-tier teams in the way Denmark has, where teams have stuck together and made the grind to reach the top, f0rest explains and continues with his comparison between the two neighbouring countries:

- What Denmark does right, is that they nurture and have a lot of really strong teams in lower-tiers that grind their way up towards the higher ends. Heroic for instance, they came from battling in tier-2 to now being a stable Top 5 team in the world (…) At the end of the all, we just need to see more Swedish teams stick together longer and actually grind and try to make it work.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"teams/fnatic /Copyright_-_Helena-Kristiansson_-_fnatic_nevlmm","originalWidth":3840,"originalHeight":2160,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Helena Kristiansson ESL","alt":"CS:GO, Counter-Strike"}]

Fnatic has this year gone from being a fully Swedish roster to an international team with the signing of the British trio ALEX, mezii, and Smooya. 

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Swedish players in Top 30 Teams (HLTV’s world ranking):

f0rest's way to the top of Counter-Strike

Long before becoming one of Counter-Strike’s most accoladed and greatest players in history, f0rest recalls a time and a period where he alongside some of his fellow friends were trying to break through to the professional scene.

- When I started playing Counter-Strike there was already a lot of Swedish pro teams, where I only played with four of my friends. We all had the same goal to reach LAN events or just do something. During that path, we all became really good, because we all wanted the same thing – to become great players and a great team.

We didn’t make it that far, however, we did a few upsets as a team, and that was enough to get recognized and picked up by a better team. You got to grind – I think that’s the way to do it because it’s not up to others to show you the way.

I don’t think it’s as hard to get recognized now, as it were be back in the day. There are a lot of tournaments you can play right now. So just get in there and make sure you have four teammates, who are playing for the same reason as you.

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[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"Gamle billeder/nip_87-0_22_bxwztc","originalWidth":1429,"originalHeight":804,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: NIP"}]

NIP's iconic roster who managed to set up a massive 87-0 map streak (From left to right: Fifflaren - GeT_RiGhT - friberg - xizt - f0rest)

The upcoming PGL Major is set to be held in Sweden’s capital of Stockholm, with the $2 Million tournament being the first Major in over two years. Sweden’s best hope for an overall victor will undoubtedly be NIP, after their impressive win at IEM Fall.

Despite the iconic Ninjas’ great success lately, Sweden will only be going to be represented by a historically low of five players at the PGL Major – the lowest in Major history.

The number of Swedish players at selected Majors:

PGL Stockholm Major (2021): 5 {cflag:SE} players

Starladder Berlin Major (2019): 7 {cflag:SE} players

IEM Katowice (2019): 12 {cflag:SE} players

FACEIT Major London (2018): 11 {cflag:SE} players

DreamHack Winter (2013): 21 {cflag:SE} players

The two Swedish mastodonts in Ninjas in Pyjamas and Fnatic has in recent years tried to strengthen the Swedish talent pool with the creation of Young Ninjas and then also Fnatic Rising. The creation of these academy teams is something f0rest sees as a very positive direction.

- NIP is doing something right with giving LNZ a shot, being a young player from Young Ninjas and now has won IEM Fall. That will hopefully give some motivation for younger Swedish players to see that it’s possible.

That grind, where you develop at a certain pace and get a feel out for the game is a healthy way of doing it, in my opinion. Jackinho and the Young Ninjas players on NIP have been thrown into tier-1 competition and are expected to deliver results right off the bat.

I think the future of Swedish Counter-Strike looks brighter than it has in the last few years. There are a lot of upcoming talents who are beginning to pop up within the scene, and it feels like the Swedish CS:GO has got reignited and realized “Hey, we are not so bad after all”, f0rest concludes.

You can watch the entire interview with f0rest in the video below.

f0rest

GeT_RiGhT

Jackinho

friberg

Xizt

Fnatic Rising

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”

[slugORMA:{"slug":"nip-announce-roster-change-before-iem-summer","isNewTab":true}]

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.

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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. 

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/LNZ_kgupo0","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: NIP"}]

In the same press session, LNZ himself expressed his thought about the circumstances of being a stand-in.

Gamers Without Borders | 5-6th (LNZ as a fifth)

BLAST Premier Spring Finals | 4th (LNZ as a fifth)

ESL Pro League Season 13 | 3-4th (ZTR as a fifth)

Snow Sweet Snow 2 | 5-8th (ZTR as a fifth)

BLAST Premier Spring Groups | 4-6th (ZTR as a fifth)

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hampus

The first three groups at ESL Pro League Season 14 are done and dusted and it’s now time for Group D to commence. The last group presents a mixed lineup of teams, that both contain superstar teams, talented and promising rosters, but also dangerous underdog teams. Here is everything you need to know about the teams.

Gambit comes into the tournament as one of the biggest favourites for the overall victory alongside their Russian countrymen from NAVI. The [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/nafany","isNewTab":true,"text":"Vladislav ‘nafany’ Gorshkov"}]-led side has been a forceful factor on the top of CS:GO for the entire 2021 season, with them having won no more than five big titles so far.

Their last result before the tournament break was a 5-6th place at IEM Cologne, which were the roster first big LAN event together. Despite, the rather disappointing showing at IEM Cologne, we have them as heavy favourites to take the #1 place in the group.

NIP’s exciting project build around the superstar [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/device","isNewTab":true,"text":"Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz"}] has now been around for over four months, with the now Danish-Swedish mixed roster having presented a few impressive results this year. dev1ce and company were close to winning Flashpoint 3 in May, only losing to mousesports in the Grand Final.

The Swedes are running an innovative and quite rare form of roster rotation, where we have seen the two Young Ninjas players [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/ztr","isNewTab":true,"text":"Erik ‘ZTR’ Gustafsson"}] and [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/lnz","isNewTab":true,"text":"Linus 'LNZ' Holtäng"}] switch between the fifth spot on the roster. Now, it looks like that it’s the latter who’s got the upper hand, as he will play at this EPL Season 14.

If this were two years ago, we’ve had Liquid at the very top of our predictions as the winner of the entire tournament. However, the iconic North American organization looks to be far past their prime where they ruled the entire CS:GO scene.

Their star player [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/elige","isNewTab":true,"text":"Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablonowski"}] has continued to present an impressive consistency in his play, which also has led and carried Liquid in several periods this year. The American has alongside [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/naf","isNewTab":true,"text":"Keith ‘NAF’ Markovic"}] been the two best performing individuals in 2021. Liquid goes into EPL with an unsatisfactory 9-12th place from IEM Cologne, where they suffered two devastating 16-2 and 16-6 map losses to the Swedes from NIP.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/EliGE_oqhpl1","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: StarLadder"}]

Entropiq has been a very refreshing element in the CS:GO scene in 2021. The promising Russian roster, which plays under the Czech banner, has managed to establish themselves, as what looks like a consistent Top 20 team in the world. A fresh 1st place at Malta Vibes Knockout Series 1 and a silver medal at Spring Sweet Spring 3 show that Entropiq is a very potent team.

However, as their tournament calendar also shows. It’s not many top-tier events they are competing in, which means their experience and knowledge with the top teams aren’t that big. And that may also look like their biggest weakness here at ESL Pro League.

The Brazilian Panthers from FURIA has begun to look rather tame and harmless lately. The otherwise strong and dominant team led by the always aggressive [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/art","isNewTab":true,"text":"Andrei ‘arT’ Piovezan"}] is no longer feared by the CS:GO elite after a disappointing year so far. Despite their recent win at Elisa Invitational Summer, they have not accomplished anything particular, especially if you compare with their phenomenal 2020-season or the year before that.

FURIA’s chances at this ESL Pro League was reduced heavily when the South American organization announced that [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/honda","isNewTab":true,"text":"Lucas ‘honda’ Cano"}] wouldn’t travel to Europe with the rest of the team, owing to his mother getting tested positive for Covid-19. This means that FURIA will play with their head coach Nicholas “guerri” Nogueira as a stand-in.

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At the bottom of Group D, we predict that TeamOne will be found when the group stage is over. The Brazilian team actually possess a very exciting and talented roster with interesting players like [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/malbsmd","isNewTab":true,"text":"Mario ‘malbsMd’ Samayoa"}] and [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/pesadelo","isNewTab":true,"text":"Matheus ‘pesadelo’ Panisset"}] as their most powerful weapons.

The strong duo of malbsMd and pesadelo together with the veteran in-game leader Pedro "Maluk3" Campos will have a lot of possibilities to make some upsets at Group D, however, they will most likely still end out of playoff contention. Something, their last showing at ESL Pro League Season 13 also indicates, where they lost all five group games.

nafany

device

pesadelo

malbsMd

honda

Gambit Esports

Team Liquid

Entropiq

FURIA

TeamOne

The main event of IEM Cologne 2021 is finally underway and started with a brawl between NiP and Liquid. From start to finish it was a close affair between the two teams and with both teams winning their opponents map-pick it was all to be decided in the third and final map on Mirage. This time, however, it wasn’t a close affair and ultimately it was the Swedish Ninjas in Pyjamas who were able to walk away with the victory and advance further at the event.

The first map was the pick of the Ninjas in Pyjamas and saw the two rosters head to Overpass to start the Bo3-series. It was, despite being the pick of NiP, Team Liquid to start the strongest on Overpass. Due to an incredible performance from Liquid player “Grim” they managed to gain an early lead on NiP and could walk to halftime at the scoreline of 9-6 favoring the North American Liquid side. The second half started as the first had ended, however, it wasn’t long until NiP woke up and started answering back. Making a comeback attempt the Swedes managed to force overtime at 15-15. Unfortunately, however, Liquid didn’t allow any more from the Ninjas in overtime and could walk away with the victory on Overpass at 19-17.

The second map was picked by Team Liquid and was to be played over on Dust 2. The iconic map of Dust 2 is a map that heavily favors individual skill and has been home to some of the biggest upsets over time. Today it was NiP who gained the benefits of Dust 2 and with young “LNZ” performing at an extremely high level it was clear that NiP was the better team on map 2. Without too much hassle the Swedes from NiP managed to shut down Liquid and take home Dust 2 at the impressive scoreline of 16-6.

The third and final map was to be played on Mirage. Coming from a strong performance on Dust 2 it was clear that the Ninjas in Pyjamas had momentum and confidence going into the deciding third map. Leaving Liquid with very little room to breathe the Swedes dominated Liquid on Mirage. The domination carried over to the second half of Mirage and the North American Liquid were only able to win two rounds as NiP could call themselves victorious after a dominating 16-2 performance on Mirage.

19-17 Liquid | Grim 1.50 Rating / 94.4 ADR / 35-22 K-D

16-6 NiP | LNZ 1.52 Rating / 86.6 ADR / 18-6 K-D

16-2 NiP | device 2.23 Rating / 120.8 ADR / 23-7 K-D

[twitchClip:QuaintBombasticDogRedCoat-Y-JuM3aNY4LfuJjE]

Nicolai “device” Reedtz| 1.58 Rating - 73-37 K/D - 94.0 ADR - 84.2% KAST

IEM Cologne 2021 update – Gambit vs mousesports (2-1)

Whilst the NiP vs Liquid brawl was underway another big match took place between Gambit and mousesports. Being Gambit’s first series at the IEM Cologne 2021 event they looked a little rusty coming out of the gate and lost the first map of Inferno 16-14. This, however, didn’t last very long as they seemed fiercer than ever on the second map of Vertigo. Dominating their opposition Gambit managed to take home Vertigo at 16-3. The third and deciding map was much closer than the one of Vertigo. Both teams seemed eager to win, however, in the end, it was the side of Gambit who could call themselves victorious at the scoreline of 16-12. 

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"teams/Gambit/Gambit_2_uzlx7m","originalWidth":1920,"originalHeight":1080,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Gambit"}]

Grim

A spot in the consolidation final against Natus Vincere and a chance to advance to the Grand Final of BLAST Premier Spring Final 2021 was up for grabs when G2 took on NiP. Despite a comeback victory from the Ninjas in Pyjamas on the second map of the series, it was ultimately G2 to prove themselves the stronger roster on the day and take home the victory on the third and final map. With the 2-1 victory G2 now have a chance to secure a place at the Grand Final of the event.

The first map took place on Dust 2 and was picked by the Ninjas in Pyjamas. It was also the Swedish side of NiP to start the strongest on Dust 2. Posting a very strong CT-side the Swedes managed a 10-5 lead at halftime. Whereas NiP’s CT-side was more than strong, the opposite was the case on their T-side in the second half. Only managing to win one round in the second half of Dust 2 NiP had to see themselves bested as G2 took home the victory on Dust 2 at the scoreline of 16-11.

The second map was chosen by G2 and was set to take place on Nuke. Sitting on a 62,5% win rate on Nuke in the past three months G2 is definitely no stranger to the map of Nuke and beginning with a strong T-side they proved exactly that. Carrying over the momentum from Dust 2 the G2 side seemed relentless in their play and proved a difficult task for NiP to handle. However, due to a strong performance from NiP’s two newest additions in “device” and “LNZ” they managed to tie things up in the later stages of Nuke. Ultimately it was NiP to make the comeback and win on Nuke at the scoreline of 16-13, meaning a third and final map of the series.

The third and deciding map was set to be played over on Inferno. Just as Nuke it was G2 to start the strongest on Inferno, however, NiP managed to bounce back from their early difficulties and put up a respectable scoreline of 6-9 at halftime. The second half was, just as the first, in the favor of the G2 roster at the start of the half, however, once again NiP managed to make a comeback and ultimately forced overtime in the third map of the series. Despite the valid comeback attempt from NiP it was G2 to take home the series after winning Inferno in overtime at the scoreline of 19-17.

16-11 G2 | NiKo 1.44 Rating / 99.7 ADR / 27-19 K-D

16-13 NiP | LNZ 1.48 Rating / 100.8 ADR / 27-15 K-D

19-17 G2 | huNter 1.33 Rating / 92.4 ADR / 32-22 K-D

[twitchClip:KnottyFastRaccoonWTRuck-ajAsqARGhjSlOSEf]

Nikola "NiKo" Kovač | 1.19 Rating - 72-65 K/D - 91.6 ADR - 72.8% KAST

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/Copyright_-_Bart-Oerbekke_-_Niko_khmtpq","originalWidth":3840,"originalHeight":2160,"cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Bart Oerbekke ESL","alt":"CS:GO, Counter-Strike"}]

NiKo

The first map was to be played on Dust2, which was BIG´s map pick.

In the first half, the game was very even, as NIP won the first half 8-7.

A great playing LNZ delivered a great defense for NIP, and he was the main reason why NIP ended up winning the first half.

In the second half NIP dominated BIG to the fullest as the T side, as they bulldozed through a weak defensive lineup from BIG.

The German side didn’t have a chance in the second half at Dust2, as they got outplayed to the fullest with an 8-3 win for NIP.

Which in the end was enough for NIP to take the map with a 16-10 win.

The second map was to be played on Inferno, which was NIP´s map choice and a bit surprising because they have been very shaky on Inferno in the last few games.

And BIG got themselves the best start at Inferno, where they delivered a very great defense on the CT side, and they managed to win the half 10-5, and the map seemed to be a formality.

But NIP wanted it otherwise, and their defensive line in the second half seemed unbreakable!

With a near-perfect performance as the CT side from REZ and some outrageous plays by device, NIP got themselves the perfect second half.

NIP won the second half 11-2 as the CT side, which was enough for them to win the second map 16-12 against BIG.

NIP - BIG 2-0 | BLAST Premier Spring Final

16-10 (Dust2) | {cflag:SE} LNZ – 1.36 Rating / 22-12 K-D / 88.3 ADR

16-12 (Inferno) | {cflag:SE} REZ – 1.61 Rating / 28-18 K-D / 110.7 ADR

{cflag:SE} Fredrik ”REZ” Sterner – 1.45 Rating / 52-34 K-D / 96.6 ADR

The Swedes from NIP has decided to go with Linus “LNZ” Holtäng for the upcoming tournaments, the organization confirms via HLTV.org. The 18-year-old academy player will attend BLAST Premier Spring Final and IEM Cologne Play-In together with the main team, as they approach the end of the season.

LNZ took from another youngster from the NIP academy of Young Ninjas, when he replaced Erik “ztr” Gustafsson before the newly concluded IEM Summer. The two players are a part of NIP’s quite unique strategy, where they will have a fluent path between the main team and the academy team.

- We've happily decided to give LNZ the chance to prove himself until the summer break. He's blended in really well already and is transferring the firepower and work ethic that we saw and loved in Young Ninjas right into the first team.

We obviously haven't been doing things the traditional way for a while and are setting a new standard as we go along, but we get smarter every day and still think we are on the right path to finding out how a truly sustainable performance setup looks like in CS:GO." –  COO at NIP, Jonas Gundersen told HLTV.org.

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LNZ and the rest of NIP will commence their BLAST Premier Spring Final campaign today, with a tough matchup against the strong Juggernauts from Complexity. The match is set to begin at 18:30 (CET), and can be seen on Pley.gg. 

{cflag:SE} Nicolas "⁠Plopski⁠" Gonzalez Zamora 

{cflag:DK} Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz 

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Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz and the rest of NIP are ready for the lower final at IEM Summer. That became a reality today, as the iconic team took home a confident 2-0 win against Heroic, which means elimination for the world #2.

On the first map on Mirage, NIP managed to present a stellar comeback, where NIP turned a tough 4-11 scoreline into a vital overtime win, through a strong performance by the newcomer Linus “LNZ” Holtäng, who ended the map with a 1.27 Rating / 27-20 K-D.

It looked like the comeback on the first map totally disrupted the energy and motivation on the Heroic side, as the Danes came out to the second map in quite the bad shape, and where they struggled to find a footing in a NIP-controlled match. Something, NIP took advantage of and sealed a crushing 16-7 victory, which secured their further advancement in the tournament.

19-17 (Mirage) | stavn – 1.29 Rating / 31-24 K-D / 97.3 ADR

16-7 (Nuke) |dev1ce – 1.77 Rating / 27-10 K-D / 117.5 ADR

Hampus “hampus” Poser – 1.25 Rating / 51-41 K-D / 94.7 ADR

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Heroic

Ninjas in Pyjamas enjoyed much-needed success at Flashpoint 3, where the roster ended up taking second only bested by mousesports in the Grand Final.

The addition of Nicolai 'device' Reedtz has elevated the team, but now the Organization is looking for a new change. The young Erik “ztr'' Gustafsson has been replaced with his teammate on Young Ninjas Linus “LNZ” Holtäng for the upcoming IEM Summer tournament.

- We’re still trying to find the right format for our roster moving forward, currently running a four-man core with a rotating slot filled from our academy program, Young Ninjas. Erik “ztr'' Gustafsson has been doing an amazing job in that spot since the start of the year. We have all seen the plays he’s able to make, the spirit he brings to the team, the will to improve, and to become one of the very best. He’s a man for the future, a massive talent with an incredible work ethic. The journey Erik has taken so far, had him rise from the lower tiers of CS to consistently featuring in tier one tournaments - in just five months. It’s incredibly fast and we feel the right way to continue his pace of development is to change the environment around him a bit, and move him to Young Ninjas for the time being, Chief Operating Officer, Jonas Gundersen explains.

Ninjas in Pyjamas will face OG in their opening match on Thursday.

{cflag:SE} Nicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez Zamora

After the transition of Erik "⁠ztr⁠" Gustafsson from Young Ninjas to the senior roster of Ninjas in Pyjamas, the academy team is now complete once again.

With the addition of Linus "⁠LNZ⁠" Holtäng, the Swedes are ready for the upcoming Svenska Elitserien Spring 2021.

Linus "⁠LNZ⁠" Holtäng has played previously for British teams, and also represented the Swedish team Prima alongside with Jack "⁠Jackinho⁠" Ström Mattsson (now Fnatic) and Erik "⁠ztr⁠" Gustafsson. 

Frederik "⁠JAEGARN⁠" Andersson (coach)

	30 days	90 days
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