niko to continue to stand in for OG in ESL Pro League

8-3-2021 16:29

OG's campaign in the league is set to kick off later on Monday with a match against BIG.

OG will continue to field Nikolaj "⁠niko⁠" Kristensen as a stand-in in ESL Pro League Season 13, the organization announced ahead of their team's first match in the prestigious league against BIG, which is set to kick off at approximately 19:00 .

The Dane played for OG in the DreamHack Masters Spring Europe closed qualifier, in which they were one of the teams to fall victim to VOYVODA in the Bulgarian side's surprising lower-bracket run to third place.

OG will continue to field niko

niko has been linked with a permanent switch to OG ever since the Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen-led side made the first change in the history of the roster, benching Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt following a series of underwhelming results at the beginning of 2021.

The 22-year-old himself has been sitting on HEROIC's bench for the past two weeks, after he and Johannes "⁠b0RUP⁠" Borup were replaced on the Danish roster by MAD Lions duo Rasmus "⁠sjuush⁠" Beck and Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali.

Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller & co. and OG are both part of Group A in ESL Pro League and are set to clash on Thursday at 12:00 . It's unclear whether niko will be allowed to play against the organization he is currently contracted to. If not, the team will have the option to use NBK-, as he is listed as a substitute in the official lineup for the competition.

OG have submitted the following lineup for the event:

Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen
Valdemar "⁠valde⁠" Bjørn Vangså
Issa "⁠ISSAA⁠" Murad
Mateusz "⁠mantuu⁠" Wilczewski
Nikolaj "⁠niko⁠" Kristensen

Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt (substitute)

Casper "⁠ruggah⁠" Due (coach)

"stand-in"

2021-03-08 16:29

16 replies

just sign him already ffs

2021-03-08 16:31

15 replies

hltv.org/matches/2347055/og-vs-voyvoda-d..

2021-03-08 16:42

14 replies

issaa is the problem, u cant justify bad ping for shitty performance for months, especially since we dont know how close LANs are

2021-03-08 16:43

3 replies

2021-03-08 17:20

You can justify shitty performances with bad ping tho Either way, my problem is that if ISSAA has high ping he should've been benched until LANs comeback. I think it's stupid to keep him playing with high ping... I'm also pretty sure that Aleksib said that ISSAA is a very important member of the team. We can't really argue with that.

2021-03-08 18:15

1 reply

2021-03-09 00:22

wdym, he takes 1st contact and scores 1.10 rating

2021-03-08 17:00

9 replies

1.02*

2021-03-08 17:08

8 replies

still good enough. he's not the problem, neither was nbk

2021-03-08 17:11

7 replies

so there was no problem but they kept on losing

2021-03-08 17:55

6 replies

There's a problem but lots of people deny it. The problem is Aleksib.

2021-03-08 17:59

what happened to ence after kick?

2021-03-08 18:13

2 replies

And what happened before? A lucky shot during a major but withdraw from MDL and were lucky enough to buy their slot in the EPL? ^^ Before the kick ENCE was already meh...

2021-03-08 19:45

? lmao ez blast and wins against astralis and the best teams

2021-03-09 17:21

the problem was that nbk and the rest of the team had drastically different views on the team's future direction. i bet if there werent that big differences, then issa would be benched and replaced with another good fragger until LAN is back

2021-03-08 18:19

their problem is not any of the players

2021-03-08 18:49

LOL.

2021-03-08 16:30

FAKE NIKO

better than team destroyer NiKo and team destroyer Never Been Kissed So happy to see grandpa get benched. And yes, he has been kissed by his Twitch GF Ms. Rage but that's worse than saying you've... Never Been Kissed.

2021-03-08 23:52

wtf i am just read

2021-03-09 01:32

My hatred of old people ruining teams. The only person in the grandpa age range respectable is f0rest. Never Been Kissed has Never Been Klose to, well, really anyone on 87-0 NiP

2021-03-14 19:10

Expected, don’t think he will significantly improve the team in any way tho

+olofmeister AND MAKE HIM PLAY STAR ROLE

Yes! Exactly!

2021-03-08 16:33

i think olofmeister could succesfully replace nbk's role instead of star role because both are veteran players and can take any hard role and adapt for the team's benefit

2021-03-08 18:22

Just call it try out

He will join permanently, otherwise they would've already sign someone else with all these free agents atm. Should be Bubszjki btw.

12 replies

bubz isn't a free agent lol

2021-03-08 16:32

OG could easily buy him. 2 times TI winner and Redbull as a sponsor. Also, even if Bubzjki isnt free there are other players better than niko without a team.

his buyout would be massive (because of astralis being a snake) they could definitely buy someone better like frozen for example

2021-03-08 16:34

good idea if mouz decides to break it up

Let me tell you, og doesnt have as much money as other big orgs. They got relevant just because of TI wins. On top of that they don't wanna invest much money in csgo either. Remember all of OG players were bought cheap except probably valde. But I think bubzkji is possible move because imo he doesn't have that huge of a release clause.

2021-03-08 17:06

4 replies

AleksiB had a huge buyout aswell. Remember coL signed blameF for the largest buyout at that time, but he was only their 2nd option as AleksiB had already committed to the OG project.

Let me tell you, there hasn't been a single big transfer in csgo scene for long time except Niko and coldzera. And we all know how important IGLs are. The prices look inflated but they're not.

2021-03-08 17:21

AleksiB turned down 1Millon $$$$$$$ from coL. Do you think he's worth that kind of money because of him being an "important igl"? - ofc they look inflated because they are. A lack of succesful igls will eventually cause big organizations to pay big bucks for rather mediocre igls as we saw happen with AleksiB to OG, Alex to cloud9 and Lekro to North. Not a single one of these highly regarded igls turned out to be a worthwhile investment even though everyone was calling for them to be bought by the likes of faze, mouz etc. You still dont think that the prices for these mediocre igls are inflated i suppose

2021-03-08 18:10

You forgot the part where they won 4 majors before the TIs as well

2021-03-08 19:42

I broke my tongue trying to pronounce Bubszjki.

2021-03-08 16:46

Same here It's bubzkji motherfuckers

2021-03-08 17:07

Just say "boobs-ski"

2021-03-08 17:33

"NBK" substitute. hmmmm

The time is running Aleksib.

2021-03-08 16:35

gg og coming last place

That's an L

Throw all the money you have and get Ropz.

2021-03-09 13:01

Funny, NBK change from bench to substitute =D -Aleksib soon (he has only 1 week left to prove his in game leading is good)

2021-03-08 16:38

they should use NBK as standin tbh

2021-03-08 16:39

niko budget NBK

+NBK -Aleksib next week

5 replies

OG will lose half of their fanbase but damn this move will make them actual t1

2021-03-08 16:47

Imagine this move thinking it cant get any worse. It absolutely can. I would like this move also that it would allow a very good IGL to explore better options and not have his talent wasted. Maybe also valde would consider moving on after that.

2021-03-08 16:52

valde will be the new igl

2021-03-08 16:55

Haha, even better. Then he can be IGL, frag out like crazy while also covering for issaa and mantuu and micromanaging them when needed which is often. And don't forget about doing support since issaa is the "star player". Can't wait for this sick move!

2021-03-08 16:56

damn right just like what he did with North

2021-03-08 16:58

but isnt he playing for g2, how is he gonna play for og?

2021-03-08 16:48

2021-03-08 17:04

8/8

2021-03-08 19:49

g2 is in another group, shouldn't be a problem I suppose

2021-03-08 19:59

he is 2 timing or wat D:

2021-03-09 13:02

just sign already

2021-03-08 16:51

event link on top is epl asia

2021-03-08 16:53

Wtf niko just gonna abandon G2 after he just joined

2021-03-08 16:54

The joke is not even funny...

2021-03-08 18:00

Bro it's not even a joke. It's just plain stupid

2021-03-08 19:57

The first time he could be funny, not the thousandth time...

2021-03-08 20:12

issaa needs to go... now that nbk is not watching over him there is no reason for OG to keep him

in the header the pro league title is wrong, says pro league S12 in Asia

"ESL Pro League Season 12 Asia"

Maybe try Me who?

2021-03-08 17:02

FREE VALDE

-niko -issaa +Ropz +bubzkji Thank me later og

hltv.org/news/31314/niko-to-stand-in-for..

2021-03-08 17:14

can I still have your ass?

2021-03-08 17:16

sorry my ass is private

2021-03-09 14:27

Unbench NBK -ISSAA + FlameZ or MICHU This is the best possible budget improvement for the team. Other than that, any changes will cost hot money.

it isnt, they both are playing with teams out of top 30,(t2-t4). ISSAA is better than both of those. If they want to get rid of issaa they have to spend a lot of money and get ropz

2021-03-08 17:32

ISSAA is better than FlameZ or MICHU based on what exactly? Other than his very bad time on OG he played on HR, which after woxic left he was just as bad as he is now. And HR was tier2/3. MICHU and FlameZ both perfom better than ISSAA did at t3. I very much Doubt ISSAA is the best option outside of top 15 players. He is by far the worst passive rifler on the t1 scene (something OG isn't anymore) Ropz is very unrealistic at least, and it will require an overhaul of the team's roles. Valde and Ropz would be passive and they'll need an agressive rifler to compensate that.

2021-03-08 17:38

ISSAA is as passive as ropz is. And why imo issaa is better than michu and FlameZ ISSAA last 12 months(mainly playing t1 cs): hltv.org/stats/players/10449/issaa?start.. FlameZ last 12 months (mainly playing t2 or t3 etc cs): hltv.org/stats/players/16693/flamez?star.. ( Yes i know his stats are better but he is playing lower level) Michu last 12 months ( while only playing t2 etc cs) hltv.org/stats/players/7356/michu?startD.. (The differnece isnt that big)

Pretty predictable and it looks like they are seriously wanting to sign him Still don't think it's the right move but they need a permanent 5th and not end up like fpx

2021-03-08 17:35

CPX*

2021-03-08 17:50

Esl pro league season 12 Asia hah

2021-03-08 18:03

expected

just sign him already wtf

2021-03-08 19:10

unpopular opinion but I don't think they should jump the gun and sign him immediately.

2021-03-08 19:21

agree

2021-03-08 20:38

POG

niko.... HAHAHAhhAAHAHAhhaAH

2021-03-08 22:12

Please do not sign him please...he is not the future

2021-03-08 22:34

well he's certainly the present

2021-03-09 14:47

Let's be honest the thing that OG needs to look for is firepower, and it's pretty much their only problem, niko won't fix that, I don't think he is the right player here.

2021-03-08 23:43