friberg and his NiP took a well-timed vacation: "We talk about CS at all".

"The team went on a cruise in the Mediterranean together, and we cruised to different locations. We didn't talk about CS at all during that week, which was nice – to be able to relax and just have fun. I think we needed the time off since we didn't have a fun summer, with too many tournaments and rough results. Since we came back from the vacation we've have had time to play more individually, and we have tried to win as many matches as possible even though we had to use a stand-in. It has gone surprisingly well", friberg tells Fragbite.

A familiar face steps in

Maikelele starts a new journey with NiP Gaming.

"We couldn't continue playing with doplan as a stand-in as he is under contract with Epsilon. So we talked to Maikel about playing until pyth is back, since we know he isn't under contract with any organization. We're grateful that Maikelele wants to help us during this time!"

"Of course it's hard having to go through all the tactics and setups with every new stand-in, but the Maikelele situation works great socially! The game has been relatively smooth, and we've tried to go through as much as possible to prepare for Kiev."

"Godsent is a strong team"

friberg sees flusha as a threat.

"Godsent is a strong team, both individually as well as tactically with pronax leading them. Flusha is one of the best players in the world, and we never had easy games against Fnatic when he played there. I think they will do good, they have to establish themselves and qualify for as many tournaments as possible throughout the fall so that they can prove why they did the changes."

"The level of CS:GO has increased enormously. There are no 'easy' games anymore. You have to give 100% in every game, you won't win otherwise."

"I believe that we can be a big threat in the tournament, too. We have a good feeling, even though we'd rather go there with pyth", friberg finishes.

friberg's recent clutch against mousesports in ESL Pro League.

The SL i-League StarSeries 2-finals are only hours away, and the majority of the world's top tier teams will be on site in Kiev, Ukraine to fight for a 300 000 dollar prize purse. NiP Gaming, who had a rough summer with a bunch of relatively disappointing offline results, the biggest one being the sudden group stage elimination at the summer major ESL One Cologne, is one of these teams.However, since the summer's final top tier tournament, the team has taken a well-needed pause from the game. The fact is that most top teams took a vacation during this period, and since NiP's comeback, they've been doing a lot better. The Swedes are currently in the top of ESL Pro League after winning nine out of twelve matches.As friberg mentioned, NiP have been forced to use stand-ins lately as Jacob "pyth" Mourujärvi suffers from a hand injury which hinders him from putting in the hours needed to be on top in CS:GO. One of these temporary replacements were Joakim "disco doplan" Gidetun. However, the Epsilon player didn't get the opportunity to follow the team to Kiev this week. Instead, Mikail "Maikelele" Bill will make a comeback in the NiP jersey after one and a half years of absence.The reason Gidetun won't join them in Ukraine has nothing to do with his performance, and it's not necessarily because Maikelele is a better player either. The answer is simple; there's a contract in the way.Playing for a 300 000 dollar prize purse with a stand-in is far from ideal, but with NiP's recent form in ESL Pro League in mind, it might work out. The situation doesn't seem too harsh for friberg, it's all about making the best with what you've got.Preparing for the tournament might be a smart move, as NiP have been placed in an all-European group. Worst of all seems to be the fact that they're pinned against the newly formed Swedish team Godsent. Godsent consists of four fifth of the former Fnatic team, a lineup that a lot of experts consider being the greatest in the history of Counter-Strike.The new team will be playing their offline debut in Kiev. However the very first match won't be against NiP Gaming, but if both Swedish teams win their opening match, they'll duke it out for the first seed in the group. "The King of Banana" describes Godsent as a threat, but that they still have something to prove.When friberg looks at the groups he considers NiP's group A being one of the hardest in the tournament, mostly because of the fact that there are only European teams in it. While the other groups look more evenly drawn, with both European and non-European teams, he won't underestimate the competitiveness.During our dialogue, friberg mentions that Godsent and Team Dignitas are the toughest opponents in the group, but not the biggest threats at the event. Instead, he sees the home crowd favorites in Na`Vi, who recently recruited the AWP monster Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev, and the Polish Eleague champions in Virtus.pro as the strongest teams on site — together with NiP, of course.The SL i-League StarSeries Season 2 finals will kick off tomorrow, on Wednesday the 7th of September, and has 300 000 dollars in its prize pool. A total of 16 teams are on site to compete; twelve European, three Asian and one North American. For more information about the participant's list, the group draw as well as the schedule, please click here