Ninjas in Pyjamas’ qualification for FACEIT London, the 13th CS:GO major, comes following a three major drought without an appearance. Strange times for players like GeT_RiGhT and f0rest, hall of fame bound legends of the game and who played in the first five major finals in a row, winning one along the way. This is the story of NiP at the majors and packs more twists and turns than the best Hollywood thriller.

Part one is the tale of how then the greatest team in CS:GO history overcame two initial heartbreaks at the majors to eventually take the title in the most unexpected and unlikely fashion.

Part two picks up with NiP still in the midst of their epic streak of major runs, reaching two more finals and battling LDLC and FNATIC for championships in an era those two had been conducting a private fight over, seemingly.

Part three sees NiP no longer reaching the finals, eventually relegated from even playing at the majors and forced to battle through the wilderness of online Closed Qualifiers for the Minor.

Sliding down the rankings

Following their their second straight terribly tight major final defeat, the Ninjas found themselves firmly held back by FNATIC and EnVyUs, the clear number one and two teams in the world. At Gfinity Spring Masters and StarSeries XII, weeks apart, NiP finished second on both occasions to nV, with the French side not just claiming revenge for the major semi-final upset but emphatically pounding NiP into submission. As PGL CCS saw the rise of TSM, from would-be contenders to champions at last, NiP fell behind another squad, losing to that Danish side in the final of FACEIT Stage 1, where previously they had always held out over device and company.

Gfinity Spring Masters II was the beginning of the tough times for NiP, as they failed to reach the play-offs entirely. At Dreamhack Summer they made a run to the semi-finals only to lose to FNATIC, a squad they simply could not beat in series play. At a Gfinity Summer Masters with a depleted field NiP still fell again to EnVyUs, losing the Bo5 final 0:3 to shox and the gang. The greatest iniquity of all came at ESWC, a tournament lacking both FNATIC and TSM, where NiP lost in the quarter-finals to FlipSid3, a CIS squad featuring monster rising talent s1mple but who had been forced to use Hiko, a North American who did not speak their native Russian, as a stand-in. NiP had never lost a Bo3 series offline to such a low ranked team before. A week later they failed to make the play-offs at the FACEIT Stage 2 Finals.

f0rest and friends headed into the next major ranked seventh, their lowest moment in CS:GO history.

Hope snuffed out – ESL One Cologne 2015 (5th-8th)

NiP won their opening game of their group 16:13 on dust2 against CLG and then ran into a buzzsaw as TSM eviscerated them 16:3 on cache, winning 12 first half T rounds. TSM under karrigan had developed into a true contender for the top spot and had won four notable international titles already since their disappointment against NiP in the quarter-finals of Katowice. This major utilised a bizarre but unique redraw format, where the three remaining teams in the group were redrawn into new groups and would play our their chances to make the play-offs from there.

NiP secured a group with Australians Renegades and Titan in it. Most expected Titan, who recently acquired shox in the second French shuffle, to reignite a classic match-up. Instead, it would be Renegades facing the Ninjas, following a shocking upset. It mattered little, as NiP easily dispatched the boys back down under 16:5 on inferno, continuing NiP’s streak of play-off appearances with a sixth chapter.

Their play-off opponent would be a familiar face as Virtus.pro, the same line-up who had thrashed NiP in the Katowice final over a year earlier, stood in their path. VP had lost a series to NiP at Starladder and at FACEIT Stage 1, so fans hoped for a competitive series. VP had been in up and down form, having had a top four finish at ESL ProLeague S1 Finals and winning CEVO-P S7 Finals, defeating Na`Vi twice there, but also flunking at the FACEIT Stage 2 finals, famously being 16:0’d by Kinguin on cache.

NiP lost narrowly on train 14:16 and then found themselves rolled over by the Virtus.plow 5:16 on inferno. A +21 series from Snax had put NiP out of a major prior to the final for the first time in history, with f0rest struggling in the deciding map and posting only seven kills on. Not only had NiP failed to reach the final, but their last big international title remained the Cologne title from a year prior.

You only live once

With NiP in disarray, for the first time in history truly not a squad in contention for big titles, rumours swirled that the squad was set to break apart in the coming months. As such, the team began to play an even looser and more free-for-all style. Initially, this approach yielded some results, seeing NiP take top four at the ESL Invitational Dubai, losing to TSM in the semi-finals, and take FNATIC to five games in the Gfinity Champion of Champions competition. NiP entered Dreamhack Cluj-Napoca, the next major and one held only a month and a half after ESL One Cologne, ranked sixth, a mild improvement.

The throwback – Dreamhack Cluj-Napoca 2015 (3rd-4th)

The group stage began ominously as NiP were defeated 13:16 by Titan on cbblestone, following a poor T side. After beating out Team Liquid 16:11 on mirage a deciding rematch against Titan would decide NiP’s play-off fate. The series began with the French side looking as if they would eliminate NiP prior to the play-offs for the first time in history, leading big on cache and with dust2, a map they could certainly play, up next. Instead it would be NiP taking control of the series, roaring back to steal cache 16:14 and then gorilla smashing the French on dust2 16:1, with Belgian mastermind Ex6TenZ recording an appalling 1:17 score-line, to roll into the play-off bracket. f0rest’s +21 for the series suggested NiP were not the also-rans of the previous major.

A quarter-finals match-up against TSM should have been a nightmare for NiP. Not only had they been beaten by TSM on a number of recent occasions, including at the Dubai tournament, but TSM had come off winning PGL S1 and were showcasing a strong six map pool. TSM picked train, a map they had recently emerged as powerful upon, and NiP chose dust2, their go-to map. With TSM being arguably the best dust2 team in the game, all signs pointed to a 2:0 for the Danes. In fact, the bracket draw had seen three of the world’s top four (FNATIC, EnVyUs and VP) all drawn on the other side, so many were expecting TSM to cruise past NiP and Na`Vi, teams they had beaten a number of times that year, to a finals appearance for the first time in history.

NiP rolled back the years to deliver some prime NiP magic level play. train was a 16:10 upset win for the Ninjas, as friberg, the player struggling most notably for NiP in the run-up to the major, threw up another classic major performance with 27 kills. The NiP entry fragger seemingly could not miss and bullied the Danes, leaving them visibly shaken. On dust2 it was even easier for the Swedes, rushing out to a 16:8 win and with GeT_RiGhT cracking 28 kills to close the series. TSM had somehow again blow it at a major against NiP, with star player device, arguably the world’s best player, finishing -7 over the series.

In NiP’s sixth major semi-final appearance, they were drawn against Na`Vi. Hopes that the TSM series had been an indicator of NiP being back in championship form were unable to even last into the start of the series, as GuardiaN and flamie brutalised NiP on the very same train they had beaten TSM on. Following that 16:3 train game, the series moved over to dust2, also the other map in the TSM series, where Na`Vi continued to plow through the Swedes, crushing them 16:5. GuardiaN finished +34 for the series, playing MVP level Counter-Strike, and rising talent flamie produced a +20 set of games. In contrast, every NiP player finished with a minus K-D differential. TSM could only look on and wonder what could have been had they faced that same NiP a day earlier.

Time for a change

The performance spike around the major proved short-lived, as NiP failed to reach the play-offs at FACEIT Stage 3 finals, losing to a fresh Luminosity line-up. One last chance at glory awaited at fragbite Masters S5 Finals, where the Ninjas were able to defeat the new dennis-infused FNATIC 2:1 in the upper bracket final, only to lose to the very same FNATIC in three games in the final itself and be forced to finish second yet again for 2015.

allu departed from NiP and the team chose to add pyth to the roster. THREAT, a former IGL in 1.6 and CS:GO, joined as the new coach of NiP. NiP’s first tournament with their new roster was IEM X Katowice, where they managed to defeat FalleN’s Luminosity but failed to progress from the group stage. Inactivity meant NiP entered the next major unranked for the first time in history.

Standing in and standing up – MLG Columbus 2016 (5th-8th)

At the major NiP would not get a chance to bed in pyth, with the young Swede having issues getting to the event on time and NiP having to use coach THREAT as a stand-in for the entirety of their run there. Despite such a handicap, with THREAT known as a low fragging IGL even in his playing career, NiP still showed some veteran class. In their opener they defeat major mainstays FlipSid3 in a 19:17 overtime game on cache. Luminosity easily handed them a 5:16 mirage defeat after, leaving the Ninjas played NiKo’s mousesports team in the deciding Bo3. The series would go to three maps, but NiP’s map wins all came without the German side reaching double digits. GeT_RiGhT had again been a rock and even THREAT had finished with positive stats.

In play-offs NiP were drawn against Natus Vincere, the clear second best team in Counter-Strike at the time and featuring the superlative AWP star GuardiaN in career best form, coming off an MVP level performance at Counter-Pit S2. Na`Vi would take the series 16:9 on inferno and 16:10 on mirage, seeing NiP eliminated at the quarter-final stage for only the second time in history. THREAT’s flaws had finally caught up to the team, with him finishing -22. GuardiaN had not shone in the series, as fans would later discover he had a debilitating injury, but a deep Na`Vi squad rode strong performances from seized, flamie and Edward to victory.

A hell of a drug

NiP magic again became terminology in vogue as NiP bounced back from their stalled Columbus campaign to win Dreamhack Masters Malmo. The stacked event, missing only FNATIC of the elite sides, had them defeating the very same Na`Vi in the final and in close but thrilling fashion. At ESL ProLeague S3 Finals, NiP took Luminosity, reigning major world champions, to three maps in the semi-finals before bowing out in 3rd-4th. At a variable field at Dreamhack Summer, NiP were able to reach the final, only to lose to IMT 0:2. By ECS S1, NiP had again levelled off their honeymoon period with their new player, finishing in dead last there.

Down and out – ESL One Cologne 2016 (9th-12th)

NiP’s victory in Malmo had boosted them in the rankings and they came back to Cologne, the site of their major title two years prior, third in the world. In the group stage they began with a very healthy and easy 16:4 dust2 win over OpTic. Na`Vi gained a small measure of revenge for the Malmo final, winning 16:12 on cbblestone. The deciding match of the group would be a Bo3 between FlipSid3 and NiP. F3 had never reached the play-offs of a major, but were famous for always qualifying for the major itself. Today would be the day fortunes changed, as FlipSid3 won a three game series to reach their first play-off appearance and deny NiP one for the first time in history. NiP had won the opener 16:14 on overpass, but been kicked into touch 2:16 on cache. The decider was on mirage and a 16:11 win for B1ad3’s men saw the Ninjas eliminated in 9th-12th, bad CT sides determining their fate and nobody coming out of the series with stats to be proud of. F3’s stats told the story with WorldEdit at +20, wayLander at +16 and CS 1.6 veteran markeloff boasting a +16.

The play-off streak had died, but more significantly NiP would have to play at the qualifier for the next major, no longer earning autimatic qualification due to Legends status.

A revival run

Right after the major, NiP fell to Virtus.pro in the ELEAGUE S1 quarter-finals, the Poles going on to win the whole thing. NiP announced they would use former player Maikelele as a stand-in for a few events, with pyth having to sit out due to injury. Starladder was the first of such events and NiP looked revitalised, taking the trophy outright. At EPICENTER they were denied a play-off appearance due to round difference. The EPL S4 finals saw them losing to SK, the reigning major champions, in a three game semi-final appearance that was respectful.

pyth returned for IEM XI Oakland and NiP would unleash another magical one-off performance, winning the event and defeating the aforementioned SK Gaming in a three game final, with the last map being a close cbblestone win, in classic NiP fashion. ELEAGUE S2 had them losing to a new look Astralis in three, but NiP headed into the major qualifier for the ELEAGUE Atlanta major looking like a lock to return to the majors.

Crushed and confused – ELEAGUE Major Atlanta 2017 (DNQ)

Ranked sixth in the world, NiP began their qualification campaign easily defeating Renegades 16:9 on dust2 in the Swiss system format. Next up was a HellRaisers squad now largely comprised of players from the V4 region, but having lost star AWPer oskar. Replacing oskar, easily the best player in the team, was the little known Hungarian Deadfox. The latter would deliver a heroic +14 performance in the overtime game on overpass to hand NiP a 17:19 loss. OpTic Gaming were a different beast than the squad NiP had dispatched in Cologne, having added tarik and since won ELEAGUE S2. The NA squad convincingly rode a +15 from RUSH to a 16:9 overpass win of their own.

NiP’s draw for their fourth match looked like just the pick-me-up they could have wanted, facing Vega Squadron on cache. cache had been NiP’s best map earlier in the year, with THREAT helping rework their approach and even seeing GeT_RiGhT entrying at times. This game would be more reminiscent of the F3 series at the major than NiP’s strong run earlier in the year, with Vega winning 13 first half T rounds and closing out the series immediately on the CT side to take a monstrous 16:2 upset win. GeT_RiGhT and f0rest finished with a combined 10 kills for the map and NiP had been eliminated from the qualifier, missing the tenth CS:GO major.

Down down down

NiP’s major qualifier nightmare bled into the next year, as they found themselves failing to make any top four finishes prior to the next major cycle. At Dreamhack Vegas Astralis, the former TSM and current world number one team, handled them in the quarter-finals. A roster move was made, as pyth exited the team and former Epsilon player draken made his entrance.

At Starladder Season 3, losses to G2, HellRaisers and FNATIC denied NiP a play-off appearance. As if to show how mediocre a side they had become, NiP even failed to crack top four at cs_summit S1, a tournament featuring only SK of the elite sides. NiP lost a Bo3 series to Cloud9, who were using banned player swag rather than AWPer Skadoodle, and Team Liquid.

Nobody home – PGL Krakow 2017 (DNQ)

Having failed at the previous major qualifier, NiP now moved further down the cycle and would have to qualify for the minor and win their way back. In the Closed Qualifier for the minor, NiP would face teams in an online Swiss system. By now, NiP were no longer ranked, but the opposition in the field was still of the ilk Xizt and his men were expected to beat. The first game was a brutal 7:16 loss to Finland’s iGame on train. Next up, Swedes Red Reserve also shocked NiP fans, beating the legendary core 16:4 on cbblestone. NiP would win a game and avoid elimination by taking down fellow Swedes Epsilon 16:14 on train, but a 16:5 loss to Space Soldiers on cbblestone next spelled the end of NiP’s qualification run. NiP had gone from the most consistent team at the majors, making the first five finals in a row, to a team always expected to make at least the play-offs and finally to a squad who had now failed to even qualify for the minor.

Up and down and back again

After failing to qualify for the major, NiP performed some more roster surgery, with friberg being ousted and REZ, former Epsilon team-mate of draken’s, taking his place and role of entry fragger.

NiP attended ESL One Cologne 2017 and would make the play-offs, having won three cache games to qualify from the Swiss system. A three map series loss to eventual finalists Cloud9 prevented any further progress. At Dreamhack Open Valencia, a tournament lacking top competition, NiP took the title, beating the Swedes of Red Reserve in the final. Dreamhack Masters Malmo was a stacked affair following the player break and NiP again returned from the break looking strong, reaching the semi-finals before losing to G2, the eventual champions.

At the ELEAGUE Premier NiP found themselves upset, being eliminated prior to the bracket age in three games by a lowly nV line-up. Still, all of these ups and downs had led neatly into IEM XII Oakland, a tournament NiP were the reigning champions of. Once more, NiP would summon an epic run, this time defeating the world number one and two sides en route to a back-to-back title in Oakland. The semi-final had seen them survive the mighty coldzera’s SK in three games. The final had been a match-up against a scary FaZe Clan, but NiP somehow prevailed in the Bo5 series and took the trophy.

At Blast Pro Series Copenhagen and EPL S6 Finals, it was back to reality, as NiP finished last place at the former and 9th-10th at the latter.

More qualifier pain – ELEAGUE Major Boston 2018 (DNQ)

In the Closed Qualifier for the ELEAGUE Major Boston Europe Minor, NiP again faced the challenge of needing three wins in online play against a Swiss system filled with tier three talent. Losing the opener 6:16 on train to Team5, fellow Swedes but unknowns, had NiP fans nervous from the outset. Beating Japaleno 16:10 on overpass granted NiP their first win, but Heroic would follow up with their second loss, beating them 16:10 on inferno. Facing elimination, NiP survived another round after taking care of the Poles of Kinguin 16:7 on train. One map from the Minor, NiP had only to beat PRIDE, another Polish side and not a team with any claim to tier one status. The game was played on cache and PRIDE began with a 13:2 first half T side, evoking torturous memories of the infamous Vega Squadron cache elimination game at the previous ELEAGUE major qualifier. NiP battled back this time with their own strong T half, but would fall 13:16 and again be eliminated prior to the European Minor.

More moves

Coach THREAT had come to the end of his tenture with the team and departed, being replaced by Pita, the first NiP coach of years prior. At cs_summit S2 NiP followed up the previous year’s poor run with a last place finishing, losing to Team Liquid and friberg’s Heroic. Another roster move brewed and Xizt was relinquished of his IGL status, with former FNATIC player dennis joining the squad and assuming that role.

At IEM XII Katowice, NiP reached the play-offs, but lost to Team Liquid in another three game series. At Dreamhack Marseille they again arrived at bracket play, this time losing to FNATIC in three maps. EPL S7 was a down moment, finishing in last place and losing to OpTic and SK Gaming, but the team came back to make another play-off run at Starladder S5, losing only to contenders mouz 1:2 in the quarter-finals. Following Starladder, draken was removed and former FNATIC player lekr0 given his spot. The team proved unsuccessful in their first outing with him, not even making top four at the underwhelming field of the CS:GO Asia Championship, losing a Bo3 series to TyLoo, China’s top team but who were using a stand-in for their injured IGL CaptainMo.

Offline at last – FACEIT Major London 2018 (TBD)

Having faced two straight Closed Qualifier eliminations previously, NiP came into the one for FACEIT Major London Europe Minor happy to see the format expanded to a Bo3 Swiss system. Nonetheless, the opener again haunted NiP, as they lost 0:2 in a close series to 3DMAX, a squad of French nobodies. The young Danes of Fragsters came close to handing NiP a second straight defeat, but GeT_RiGhT’s boys edged out a deciding map 16:14 to pick up the first win of the qualifier. A 2:0 victory over Nvrdvnd left NiP one win from the Minor, this time with a life left. In a three game series against AGO, arguably Poland’s best team and a recent play-off team at StarSeries S5, NiP would emerge on the winning end, booking their first appearance at a European Minor.

Before the Minor could arrive, ESL One Cologne 2018 was to be played. Any confidence summoned by overcoming the initial step at which they had failed twice previously did not make its way to Germany, as NiP lost an opening Bo1 game against Cloud9 3:16 on inferno, despite C9 being a squad in poor form and using former mouz player STYKO as a stand-in. In the lower bracket first round newcomers ENCE, featuring former NiP player allu, would easily dispatch the Ninjas in two straight maps. Over the three games played in Cologne, NiP had accrued only 11 total round wins and their last place finish did not bode well for the upcoming Minor.

As if their poor Cologne performance had not crushed their spirits enough, it was announced that NiP were changing IGLs from dennis to lekr0, a young player not known for any history as a leader. With a group of Red Reserve, Sprout and Kinguin, NiP were favoured to at least make it to the bracket phase. A tight 16:14 opening game on overpass put NiP into the winner’s match, but there they would lose 16:19 in overtime to denis and Spiidi’s Sprout, a team who had accomplished nothing. Facing Red Reserve again for the last play-off spot, NiP took a close series 2:0, with lekr0 and dennis both delivering strong performances, seemingly justifying the Ninjas’ strange role swap.

In the play-offs, NiP were one of four teams remaining to battle for the two major spots. The format was double elimination Bo3, so if NiP were going to fail to qualify then there was litte-to-no room for excuses. The opening series went to OpTic Gaming 1:2, with NiP’s lone map win being in over-time and all the others going handedly to OpTic. GeT_RiGhT and f0rest’s combined -36 differential looked worrying. Revenge against Sprout 2:1 in the lower bracket came with its own share of scary moments. Up a map after a dominant 16:4 nuke performance, NiP lost the next on mirage 13:16. The decider would be on train and in a 29 round game NiP were not to be eliminated from the Minor, winning out to move one step closer to qualification. Youngster REZ’s +23 was the stat-line of the series.

If NiP defeated ENCE in the next series then they had assured themselves a return to the majors. A 16:12 overpass game flowed into an easy 16:2 inferno stomping and NiP’s major nightmare was over. Both f0rest and GeT_RiGhT made up for the failures of the OpTic series, going +23 and +18 respectively. All that was left was to play the final of the Minor, with prize money still up for grabs. A rematch against OpTic again proved one-sided, but this time it was the Ninjas swining the sledgehammer. A 16:8 win on dust2 and a 16:7 cruise to victory on nuke granted NiP the Minor trophy, new IGL lekr0 fittingly delivering a +27 performance to ease them through.

Following three failed qualification campaigns, NiP was back at the majors and it had been a collective team effort to get them there, needing big series from everyone by the end. Will they be also rans in London? Can they return to the play-offs of a major for the first time since MLG Columbus 2016? For NiP, they can be happy simply to be compete again on Counter-Strike’s biggest stage. The team whose early runs defined the majors are back where they created so many epic memories.

Related:

Thorin’s Esports History: NiP at the Majors (Part 1: Three Times Up the Mountain)

Thorin’s Esports History: NiP at the Majors (Part 2: Criminally Close)