Ninjas in Pyjamas’ revamped project, led by profiled figures Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer and Rasmus “sjuush” Beck, is off to a rocky start in 2025.
With a lack of Valve Regional Standings (VRS) points preventing direct invites to top-tier events, NIP is forced to grind through lower-tier tournaments to climb the rankings.
Lower-tier CS is no joke
However, even against lesser-ranked teams in the tier-2/3 scene, success has been at a minimum.
Last night, NIP suffered another setback, bowing out of their second consecutive CCT Season 2 Closed Qualifier of the year – failing to qualify for CCT Season 2 Europe Series 17.
Their run ended with a 1-2 loss to Fire Flux, ranked #49 in the world.
This disappointment came right after a like-wise early exit from CCT Season 2 Europe Series 16 just ten days before. Across both qualifiers, they’ve recorded losses against CYBERSHOKE, Aurora, and now Fire Flux.
Results in 2025
CCT Season 2 Europe Series 17 Closed Qualifier – 5-8th
- 29/01/2025 – NIP 1 : 2 Fire Flux ❌
- 28/01/2025 – NIP 2 : 0 Aurora ✅
- 27/01/2025 – NIP 2 : 0 UNITY ✅
- 26/01/2025 – NIP 1 : 2 Aurora ❌
CCT Season 2 Europe Series 16 Closed Qualifier – 5-8th
- 19/01/2025 – NIP 1 : 2 CYBERSHOKE ❌
- 17/01/2025 – NIP 2 : 1 Endpoint ✅
- 16/01/2025 – NIP 2 : 0 AMKAL ✅
Going into this season, NIP made a significant overhaul of its roster.
Joining the Swedish organization were captain Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer, Rasmus “sjuush” Beck from HEROIC, and a promising Portuguese duo of Rafael “arrozdoce” Wing and Michel “ewjerkz” Pinto.
The newly assembled quartet teamed up with Artem “r1nkle” Moroz, the sole survivor from NIP’s 2024 squad.
However, NIP has played with Audric “JACKZ” Jug so far, due to his VRS points, which allows NIP to get invites to smaller tournaments.