The Norwegian side Apeks is currently trying to break into the very top of CS:GO this year. A play like this by Tim "nawwk" Jonasson is surely top-tier worthy. 

Watch the Swedish AWPer in today's Pley of the Day!

nawwk

Apeks

Apeks have signed the 16-year-old Swede to their roster, and with the recent signing of Joakim "jkaem" Myrbostad, Apeks’ roster comes one step closer to completion. The last player is still unknown.

Apeks are very happy to get another piece of the puzzle.

Also, chawzyyy are happy about what this opportunity means to him;

AcilioN

jkaem

chawzyyy

The Norwegians from Apeks has finalized their new roster with the fresh signing of Martin “STYKO” Styk, the organization announced Sunday evening. The former FunPlus Phoenix player will be the only non-Scandinavian on the team sheet, which is led by the Danish in-game leader Asger "⁠AcilioN⁠" Larsen.

After having sealed all five players for Apeks 2.0, Head of Esports, Anders Kjær has high goals for the which is starred by Joakim "⁠jkaem⁠" Myrbostad and Tim "⁠nawwk⁠" Jonasson.

- With this team, I have one big goal, and that is reaching the Majors. We have never had a team as good as this, and we know they can do even more than they have done before. With the final addition of STYKO we are now ready to take on any challenge 2022 will bring us, Kjær said and continued:

- Martin with his experience and knowledge of the game is a master of CS. He will bring the stability and know-how that we need in this new lineup.» «STYKO will be a big resource to the team. He knows so much about the game, and he has experience from several international lineups.

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STYKO is beginning to be an experienced veteran on the CS:GO scene, with the 25-year-old Slovakian having played for several big organizations in the past as HellRaisers, mousesports, Cloud9 and most recently FunPlus Phoenix. At Apeks, he will once play in an international lineup, where especially one individual has caught his eye.  

-The most important points for me were definitely the vision of the project as well as the line-up that I will be working with. Despite having a lot of known and proven players around me, I’m most excited about working with our young-gun chawzyyy.

- He is the talent I would like to work with and help him develop into a star. And that is partly what I will bring to the team. Guidance, experience, and general approach are all something I can aid the team with. Let’s make it all work and steadily grow as a team to challenge the higher ranks, STYKO stated in an official [link:{"url":"https://apeks.gg/welcome-to-apeks-styko/","isNewTab":true,"text":"statement"}].

{cflag:NO} Joakim "⁠jkaem⁠" Myrbostad

{cflag:SE} Hugo "⁠chawzyyy⁠" Günther

{cflag:NO} Pål "⁠Polly⁠" Kammen (coach)

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STYKO

FunPlus Phoenix

Apeks have announced the signing of former NiP player Tim “nawwk” Jonasson, who had been sitting on the bench ever since the Ninjas made the shock signing of Nicolai “device” Reedtz from Astralis in late April. The 24-year-old Swedish AWPer joins Apeks on a transfer from NiP and will be teaming up with Asger “AcilioN” Larsen in a rebuild of Apeks' roster after the organization decided to part ways with four of their players in November. 

Since he parted ways with Ninjas in Pyjamas, nawwk’s only officials have been from the Calyx Dune Cup Fall event back in August when he helped POGGERZ claim the title and qualify for BLAST Premier Showdown. 

“I’m looking forward to starting playing again. It’s been about 8 months since I played my last official game with NiP and sitting on the bench has both been a good and bad learning experience,” the Swedish AWPer said in a statement to Apeks. 

“Starting from scratch will be a great feeling. It sure does mean we need to work a lot harder to get where we want to be, but it also brings a ton of motivation from every possible angle.” 

Players with contracts set to expire December 31: 

Martin “Nasty” Garvik (loaned to FOXED) 

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Updated: After mouseports win against G2, NIP have secured the first place in Group B.

Team Vitality suffered another disappointing exit in 2021 after they lost the heads up duel against Ninjas in Pyjamas for a spot in the playoffs at ESL Pro League Season 13.

On Inferno, the match was pretty even. A big factor was the AWP duel between nawwk and ZywOo. A matchup that usually would favorite the Frenchman, but today it was different. Tim “nawwk” Jonasson played amazingly throughout the map, and made 18! AWP kills silencing ZywOo. A big hit for the Frenchmen, who needed their starplayer desperately. In the end, it was Frederik "REZ" Sterner who finished off the hope of the Frenchmen with three kills to win the map 16-14.

On Nuke all hope was gone. Team Vitality was nowhere to be seen on the server. Only shox provided some decent number, while NIP steamrolled the Frenchmen. It ended with a colossal 16-5 victory, which gives Ninja in Pyjamas a chance of first place in the group if mousesports finish off G2 in the other match in Group B. Team Vitality is out.

MVP: Tim “nawwk” Jonasson - 1.53 rating / 51-27 K-D / 91.7 ADR

ZywOo

Team Vitality

Ninjas in Pyjamas won their second match at EPL after beating FaZe Clan 2-0.

The victory was founded after a solid performance on Overpass. Hampus, Plopski, and nawwk were all putting in good numbers and contributed to a 16-14 win on the first map.

FaZe picked Train as their map. A pick that came as a bit of a surprise. FaZe has not won on Train during the last three months but was still feeling comfortable enough to pick the map against NIP. The Swedes responded well and tore the FaZe Clan offense apart during the first half. 11-4 on the scoreboard told the story of a struggling FaZe roster, who could see a new Ninja player dominate the server. Frederik "REZ" Sterner reported for duty during Train with a scoreline of 27-17 and 102.6 ADR.

On their T-side Ninjas in Pyjamas started slow, and allowed FaZe to gain momentum during the second half of Train. At 12-11, the Swedes managed to stop FaZe's comeback and cleaned out the rest of the rounds winning 16-11.

NIP is now on two victories, while FaZe will have a lot of work to do if they want to qualify for the playoffs.

FaZe Clan - Ninjas in Pyjamas 0-2 (14-16, 11-16)

MVP: Nicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez Zamora - 1.29 rating / 45-37 K-D / 84.4 ADR

Plopski

hampus

FaZe

The E-sports organization Ninjas in Pyjamas have just announced a rebranding of their "look". With this comes a new logo, new merchandise, and a new outlook on themselves. The previous longstanding logo with the black, golden, and white shuriken has been replaced with a new symbol that according to the organization is a representation of: "ancient Japanese emblems and Katakana”. The new logo, whilst having a neon look, carries the yellow color in order to pay homage to the history of Swedish Counter-Strike that NiP, alongside fnatic, for many years have been frontrunners for. 

In a statement regarding the rebrand, Ninjas in Pyjamas CEO Hicham Chahine gives insight into why they have chosen to rebrand, as well as the importance of being able to connect with their audience: 

“Ninjas fight as one, we have discipline, we stay calm and we inspire. A ninja can be everyone and we feel it’s important to create a story that anyone can connect with”

There is no doubt that NiP are a long way away from their 2014-level which included the iconic Swedish core of Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg, Richard "Xizt" Landström, Adam "friberg" Friberg, and Christopher "GeT_RiGhT Alesund. However, it may seem that the current Swedish roster is on its way to, once again, make NiP a top-tier contender in the Counter-Strike scene. 

With the rebrand, NiP focuses on their future and maybe it is time to forget about the great times of 2013-2017 and instead look to further strengthen what they currently have. NiP are currently ranked at 18th. in the world but could be a surprise contender for the upcoming 2021 season. At this current moment of time, they are facing Virtus.pro in the cs_summit 7 event, where they will have the chance to show everyone that the Ninjas are on their way back. 

The current NiP-roster looks as follows: 

Watch them compete LIVE against Virtus.pro right now here: 

f0rest

In an interview with CS:GO analyst Thorin, NiP's Head Coach Bjorn “THREAT” Pers talk about how the Swedish Counter-Strike scene has evolved throughout the years and gives insight into how he changed and molded a new version of NiP.

When asked about the Swedish Counter-Strike scene and his take on the more skill-based approach we have seen from the Swedish team in oppose to a more modern strategy-heavy approach that we have come to know in the later stages of Counter-Strike, "THREAT" answers:

"I think the biggest curse for old-school Swedish Counter-Strike is that we had all the talent at the same time. It made us very lazy. I think it is sort of a curse right now, that we were so talented, let's say 5-10 years ago."

One of NiP's top-performing players this tumultuous year has been Tim "nawwk" Jonasson. When asked about the signing of "nawwk" and whether or not he is supposed to be the star player in the roster "THREAT" answered: 

"Yeah, I'd say he is. We brought him in at the end of 2019 when I came back to NiP. I remember we had a lot of discussions, and in all honesty, I was a bit worried. I watched many demos of him and I thought he seems decent, let's give him a chance. He really took that chance and even at the beginning he played out of his mind. At the beginning of the year, when I joined the team, I thought it was going to be Plopski who was going to be the main star, but now it is quite obvious that it is nawwk." 

With talents such as both "nawwk" and "Plopski" we can hopefully look forward to a year of great success for the NiP roster as they seemed geared with undoubtedly competent players and a Head Coach in "THREAT" with years of experience and a clear-cut vision for his team.

NiP will have their first opportunity this year to showcase their abilities when they face BIG in the Betway showmatch on January 13th. Read more about the showmatch here:

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/betway-host-showmatch-between-nip-big/"}]

To hear what else the talented Head Coach of NiP has to say watch the full interview here: 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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/"}]

twist

After dominant performances on Vertigo and Train, Ninja in Pyjamas sent G2 down into the lower brackets with a 2-1 victory.

It started on Vertigo, where the Swedes were in total control winning 16-4. Plopski and twist put in fine performances but were outshined by Tim “nawwk” Jonasson. The Swede was behind numerous clutches during the match, where he saved his team from impossible situations.

But the Swedes could not settle the match here and had to take it to train to get it done.

Meanwhile, G2 fought an impossible battle on the day, where everything went wrong. Even NiKo’s Deagle was not reliable.

It was only the other half of the Bosnian cousins, that delivered as expected. huNter was a one-man army for G2, but could not, in the end, prevent a big defeat on Train. NiP took home the third map with 16-4.

Tim “nawwk” Jonasson ended with a +18 k/d and a solid 1.30 after the three maps.

NiP will advance to the upper bracket, while G2 will have to make a run through the lower bracket to advance to the playoffs.

huNter

G2 Esports

There is a lot at stake in today's matchup between NAVI and NiP. The two teams will fight for the remaining spot at the Grand Final when they meet each other in the thrilling do or die match. Besides securing a place in the grand final against OG, the winner will qualify to the important event Blast Premier Fall Finals later this year. The loser must settle with the less prominent tournament Blast Premier Fall Showdown.

The matchup is a replay of the first match in the group. A match which featured a strong playing s1mple who carried NAVI to the 2-0 victory against the Swedes. NiP has to focus on taking down the Ukrainian star player because if he gets the opportunity, he’s a player who can out-frag the entire server. They must also ensure to activate REZ and nawwk who both recently have been playing really well, producing strong numbers.

The match will be played 16:30 (CEST) on the following channel:

s1mple

Natus Vincere

The Russian-Ukrainian team started Blast Premier Fall in style winning their opening match against Ninja in Pyjamas.

On NiPs map pick, Inferno, the entire roster of NAVI performed. S1mple closed the map with a duel against nawwk in a cat-and-mouse game, where the AWPer from NAVI managed to outsmart the Swede. NAVI won Inferno 16-12.

Having lost their map, the Swedish Ninjas came out firing on Train. With a 13-7 lead is seemed inevitable, that there would be a deciding map on Mirage.

But S1mple wanted it otherwise. The Ukrainian was the mastermind behind a wild comeback for NAVI, who turned the match upside down. S1mple won the match for NAVI with a clean 100 ADR and a 35-15 K/D-ratio on Train.

NAVI will play the winner of Evil Geniuses and OG in the next round at Blast Premier Fall.

The two teams have met each other four times in 2020, with three victories for fnatic and only one for NiP. Watch the game to see if nawwk and REZ can turn around the tables to win the lower bracket semi-final.

Watch the match live here: [twitchChannel:https://www.twitch.tv/dreamhackcs]

Fnatic

Today’s game between the NiP and fnatic features two historical teams having won four major victories in total. They have met four times in 2020 with three victories for fnatic and only one for NiP. Their most recent meeting was one month ago in ESL Pro League Season 12 were fnatic became the victor.

NiP has to continue the good form that they have provided the last period of time as their exceptional performance in yesterday’s game against OG demonstrates. Something, they have achieved through two strong performers in nawwk and REZ who both has been playing really well, presenting big numbers in a +74 and +19 k/d -ratio and an additionally 1.19 and 1.12 rating.

On the contrary, fnatic has to reset after their loss to Astralis in their previous match. Their experienced trio in flusha, JW and KRIMZ has to step up and lead the way if they want to beat their fellow countrymen and advance to the grand final.

The important elimination game will be played 16:30 (CEST) on the following channel.

KRIMZ

flusha

Astralis

DreamHack Open Fall have been a big success so far for the Swedish Ninja in Pyjamas-team. Last nights victory against OG showed a Swedish team, who seems to be back on track, after a bad run recently.

The new found momentum has been linked with the return of Tim "nawwk" Jonasson, who during DreamHack Open have shown great form. The AWPer himself pointed at another fact, when he was asked after the OG-victory.

- It is really important to be with each other on bootcamp. We are playing much better, then when we sit at home, the Swede told the Desk at DreamHack Open.

Nawwk and the rest of NIP will face their Swedish rivals Fnatic on Friday.

 The Swede has had a significant impact since his return and last night he was one of the biggest factors for NiP’s impressive 2-0 victory over FaZe.

Putting up a 66-45 score with 44 kills at the last and deciding map, resulting in a 1.21 overall rating. nawwk also managed to win this tough 1vs2 AWP clutch displaying his outstanding aim.

It will be exciting to see if nawwk and the rest of NiP can replicate yesterday's inspiring display against FaZe in their matchup vs. OG.

The international team OG faced off G2 in the lower bracket round one and won 2-0 in maps. The first map was Nuke and finished with a 16-9 victory for OG. Next up was nuke, which has been one of OG’s best maps, and the team managed to prove it with a 16-14 win.

On the other side, NiP won 2-0 in maps against FaZe on Inferno and Overpass. The first map ended 16-13 on Inferno, and the next map Overpass had big overtime drama. Tim “nawwk” Jonasson had massive plays and incredible impact to get the final map done and get his team further through the lower bracket.  

	30 days	90 days
Fixture count	23	50
Maps count	50	107

nawwk

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