djL: "I didn't feel like we were even on the server"

The Ninjas in Pyjamas duo of Daniel "⁠djL⁠" Narancic and Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser appeared on HLTV Confirmed and shared their thoughts about the current international lineup and the unsuccessful Rio campaign.

On Thursday, djL and hampus joined the HLTV Confirmed live show from the Rio Major, talking about the signing of new IGL Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen, Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner taking over the main AWP role in the team, and their winless exit from the Legends Stage.

Before the conversation touched on the lineup changes, the Swedish duo first reflected on their exit from the Major, where Ninjas in Pyjamas got eliminated from the Major with a 0-3 record. They recorded losses to fnatic, Outsiders, and Sprout without winning a single map.

"We had really high expectations and we felt really good coming into the tournament. The result was kind of rock bottom, I didn't feel like we were even on the server," began djL. "I still feel bad when I wake up. I don't know if we put too much pressure on ourselves, which we usually don't do. It was a weird feeling."

The disappointing result comes after Ninjas in Pyjamas completed the signing of IGL Aleksib from G2 in early September, causing the team to shift to English communication. hampus compared their previous style to the one under the new IGL, highlighting the improvements in structure.

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"The calling now relies much less on flow but much more rules and agreements, which gives more things to think about in game." The ex-IGL is also happy to be able to focus on his own game, now that he is free of the calling burden. "I mainly think about myself and the protocols now, compared to before when I had to think for three or four people. I feel super good in the new role."

"Aleksi has more to say than hampus, he wants more rules and more structure. We are also much less reactive and loose than under hampus," added djL.

Bringing in a non-Swedish IGL also meant the team switched from Swedish to English communication. Even though international teams are a mainstay of the scene, both Ninjas in Pyjamas members admitted to having some trouble. "For me, it's tough sometimes, when you want to talk about the small details. 90% of the time I can talk, but occasionally I struggle," admitted djL.

The organization also recently ended its ill-fated relationship with Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz, who returned to Astralis after a long period of inactivity in the Swedish organization. With no primary AWPer on the roster, the role fell upon REZ, who has always been a rifer in his prior teams.

"He is the most mechanically gifted player in Sweden, he can AWP," djL began. "This is something we talked about for one to two months, and REZ wanted to try and give it his all in the role."

"Taking up another role is never easy, you don't just pick up the AWP and think that you will be s1mple. It's a lot of hard work, and I think REZ is doing an amazing job. He is working his ass off."

To see what else djL and hampus had to say, you can check out the complete episode embedded above, or navigate to it here. You can also find other episodes of HLTV Confirmed on our YouTube channel, where there are also weekly news recaps, episodes of Counter-Quiz, and more.