f0rest leaves NiP; nawwk joins the roster

Ninjas in Pyjamas and Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg are parting ways after a seven and a half year partnership, making room for the Swedish organization to sign AWPer Tim "⁠nawwk⁠" Jonasson.

f0rest was the last remaining player of the legendary Ninjas in Pyjamas lineup that went 87-0 and dominated the scene in the early days of CS:GO. During his time in Ninjas in Pyjamas, the 31-year-old won 24 events, including the ESL One Cologne 2014 Major, and claimed eight MVP awards.

f0rest leaves NiP after over seven years in the organization

The veteran Swede will close a chapter in Ninjas in Pyjamas history, putting an end to the slow disintegration of the team that won over a dozen trophies in 2012 and 2013, which started in 2014 with Robin "⁠Fifflaren⁠" Johansson’s retirement. The team then rotated their fifth before changing their older players at a rate of a player a year since 2017, when Adam "⁠friberg⁠" Friberg left, with Richard "⁠Xizt⁠" Landström and Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund following in 2018 and 2019.

Despite not having made a top 20 players of the year list since 2016—his fourth and last in CS:GO—, when he came in seventh place, f0rest is widely considered to be one of the best players still active from his generation and ended 2019 with a 1.09 LAN rating, the highest of any player on Ninjas in Pyjamas. He is now expected to reunite with three of his former teammates under the Dignitas banner.

Ninjas in Pyjamas have secured the services of nawwk to take over f0rest's place on the roster. The 22-year-old AWPer, who will be reunited with former teammate Nicolas "⁠Plopski⁠" Gonzalez Zamora, started to gain some notoriety in late 2018 with the x6tence Galaxy squad that made the DreamHack Open Winter semi-final that year before signing for GamerLegion in 2019, helping the team to a second-place finish at Moche XL and a semi-final run at WePlay! Forge of Masters Season 2 Finals.

"Patrik is a true icon of the game with a long list of accolades and has been instrumental in the legacy and brand of NiP for many years. That is something that we respect immensely and will never forget. After having been with the same team for so long and achieved so much, it’s a natural thing to want a change of scenery. We have of course chosen to honor that request and wish him the very best of luck on his next adventure.

"At the same time, it opens up an incredibly exciting opportunity to rethink the way we approach and execute our competitive structure and make long term decisions. Talent is peaking at a younger and younger age and for us to be able to invest in sustainable infrastructure and support around a lineup is absolutely fantastic. I couldn’t be more excited for 2020 and the years to come."

- Jonas Gundersen, Ninjas in Pyjamas COO

"Joining NiP is an amazing feeling. It has been a dream ever since I started playing CS:GO and to be honest, it still feels quite unreal. I’ll be playing as a hybrid/second AWPer and although that’s a new challenge for me, I’m ready to put in the hard work and show what I’m capable of. With this line-up, I see great things happening in the near future."

- Tim "⁠nawwk⁠" Jonasson

Following f0rest's departure, Ninjas in Pyjamas are now:

Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner
Jonas "⁠Lekr0⁠" Olofsson
Simon "⁠twist⁠" Eliasson
Nicolas "⁠Plopski⁠" Gonzalez Zamora
Tim "⁠nawwk⁠" Jonasson

Björn "⁠THREAT⁠" Pers (coach)