pyth: "We will definitely recover"

Ninjas in Pyjamas started 2016 with Björn "⁠THREAT⁠" Pers as the coach and Jacob "⁠pyth⁠" Mourujärvi as their fifth player. With their addition, the core of the lineup won a big tournament after more than a year as they were crowned champions at DreamHack Masters Malmö.

ESL One Cologne will be the first Major of pyth's career as he couldn't take place at MLG Columbus 2016 due to visa issues. See what he has to say about his first Major experience below.

How have you been preparing for ESL One Cologne? Have you had a bootcamp to specifically train for the second Major of 2016?

We decided to skip the bootcamp and practice online instead because we have been travelling a lot lately so we have been playing a lot online and it has been going great.

How has being a NiP player for almost half a year now changed you? Have you adjusted to playing with legends such as f0rest?

I don't think playing in NiP changed me in any way, I'm still the same person that I was before I joined NiP but I have gotten more experience. It has been quite a journey so far and I'm really happy for the opportunity they gave me. Playing together with f0rest is amazing, he's a legend and will always be.

You and your team's recent form hasn't been great as you finished ECS Season 1 Finals at 7-8th place and lost to Immortals in the grand final at DreamHack Summer 2016. Do you think you will recover at the Major?

I don't think our form has been that bad, we just didn't have any time to practice and prepare properly for ECS, but now that we have practiced hard and improved our tactics we will definitely recover.

Your group consists of OpTic, Natus Vincere, and FlipSid3. What do you think about the group that was assigned to you?

I think we got one of the easiest groups in my opinion, however it can be tough against FlipSid3 & NaVi because they are both really good tactical teams and B1ad3 is always doing a great job studying other teams before a big tournament so it's going to be tough but I think we will make it out first in the group.

The inefficiency and the unfairness of the current Major seeding system, which allows for groups such as Group D (SK, G2, fnatic, and FaZe) has been criticized before by journalists and players. What is your opinion about the system and do you think it should change?

Yeah it's quite sad that the teams in Group D has to play for 2 slots since they are all semifinal or final contenders, I just don't think it should be as random as it is right now.

What will be the goal for you in the tournament? What placing would you consider a success and what would be regarded as a failure?

The goal is to win it, it's my first Major ever and I'm going to give it all to win it, we are prepared and hungry for this one. Failure would probably be not making it out of the groups.

What is your personal opinion about Nuke as a competitive map and do you think it is ready to be played at a Major? NiP has been historically good at the previous version of the map. Do you think we can see a similar level of play with the current lineup?

I like nuke, it has always been one of my favorite maps because of all the fun tactics you can use, executing a good T side requires a lot of teamwork and skill. The only thing I dislike about it is the FPS Problems I get on it. But yeah I definitely think the map is ready to be played at a Major.

What is your top four prediction and which team, in your opinion, can surprise us?

Its hard to predict the top four when you dont have the playoffs bracket yet, but my top four prediction would be NiP, SK, Fnatic & G2 (or Na´Vi). I think Liquid will surprise us all and has a big chance to get through the groups.

Is there anything you want to say to your fans before we end our interview?

Thank you everyone for supporting me out there, I'm sure all our fans will be cheering us all the way to the finals at this Major! You can also buy our stickers to support us!

Our pre-Major coverage will continue with more interviews as well as group previews. Below are all the pieces about the upcoming Major:

Jacob "⁠pyth⁠" Mourujärvi: "We will definitely recover"
Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke: "Main goal is top eight"
Damian "⁠daps⁠" Steele: "Focus on getting out of groups"

Group A preview by Michal "stich" Malachowski
Group B preview by Milan "Striker" Švejda
Group C preview by Michal "stich" Malachowski

BenjaCS writes for HLTV.org and can be found on Twitter.