The last time NiP was in a Major playoff was three years ago at the MLG Columbus Major in 2016. After that event, it was all downhill for the legendary roster.
With no other option left, they began rebuilding their team from the core. That process has finally paid off. Three years later, NiP made it to the playoffs of a CS:GO Major.
Where it all began- the fading of the NiP touch
NiP is a legendary name. Their dominance dates from the beginning of CS
The lineup that achieved this was: Robin “Fifflaren” Johansson, Richard “Xizt” Landstrom, Adam “
Post 2015, NiP were slowing down. They were still the juggernauts, but faced competition from new guns like Fnatic, LDLC/EnVyUs, Virtus.Pro and TSM/Astralis were in the race for the #1 spot
After IEM Oakland 2016, the team had dropped to the utter pits and there was no coming back for the legendary roster. The team began cutting players from their roster and added two new players called Fredrik “REZ” Sterner and William “draken” Sundin.
This did work well for the team but was no where close to their old level. The team finally understood what was on the cards; another roster change
The Rise
In early 2018, the team announced Faruk “pita” Pita as their new coach and the arrival of Dennis “dennis” Edman from Fnatic. Lastly, NiP traded draken for Jonas “lekr0” Olofsson to Fnatic and had rebuilt their roster with lekr0 being the IGL. The changes got NiP back to life, the lekr0 and pita partnership was successful. The team finally began seeing some light at the end of the tunnel
IEM Katowice 2019
The IEM Katowice 2019 Major is the first tournament in the 2019 circuit. For NiP, the run to the Major playoffs shows their efforts in coming back from scratch . In the Challengers stage, NiP came strong and qualified for the Legends Stage by going 3-2.
In the Legends stage, NiP made it to the top 8 but were knocked out in the semi-finals by Astralis thus putting an end to the fairy tail.
Read more on the journey of ENCE.
