Ninjas in Pyjamas explain why they felt “lost” at Berlin CSGO Major

On the eve of BLAST Pro Series Moscow, the Ninjas in Pyjamas players sat down for an interview with Frankie Ward, and discussed their disappointing finish in Berlin, their reunion with Nicolas ‘Plopski’ Gonzalez Zamora, and the future of their roster.

NiP are picking up the pieces after a dismal showing in Berlin. The legendary Swedish Counter-Strike squad were quarterfinalists in the Katowice major prior, nearly taking a map of the red hot Astralis in that series. 

But nothing went right for the Ninjas in Berlin. They were without their newest addition Plopski, and fielded a substitute in Maikil “Golden” Kunda Selim. Their beloved veteran Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund played with his future in question. And all of this went on while the details of alleged financial misdeeds by management dominated CS:GO headlines.

With seemingly everything going against them, Ninjas in Pyjamas crumbled. They went 0-3 and went from a guaranteed New Legends spot to no major spot at all. When speaking to Frankie in Moscow, Patrik ‘f0rest’ Lindberg acknowledged that NiP hadn’t expected that result at all.

“We didn’t have the highest expectations,” he told Frankie. “But we didn’t expect [that result] either. It felt really good during practice, but once the major came, everything just fell apart. We felt lost.”

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The return of Plopski is huge part of getting back in the right direction, according to f0rest. He also acknowledged that the team had been preparing for BLAST Moscow since the major ended.

• Read more: Astralis make history with win at StarLadder Berlin Major – Final Placements

For plopski, he was forced to sit out of the Berlin major, as he played for Team Ancient in the EU minor qualifier before being picked up by NiP. But he was terrific in that qualifier, and had a solid performance at his first event with NiP, ESL One Cologne. 

He admitted he was nervous being in front of a crowd that size, but the 17-year-old also said it was the best experience of his life so far.

NiP are excited to have Plopski in their future, but have to answer other questions about their future very soon. GeT_RiGhT was reported to be replaced after StarLadder Berlin, but is still competing with the team in Moscow. When Frankie asked GeT_RiGhT about his future and what he wants to do, he flatly responded with “No comment.”

GeT_RiGhT, along with f0rest, has been with NiP for seven years and has given no indication that he wants to retire from competitive play. Whether or not he continues playing for NiP, and for how much longer, remains to be seen.