k0nfig: "I really wanted to beat Astralis, I wanted to show them what they're missing"

The fiery Dane commented on NIP's current state after qualifying for the Paris Major in the final day of the RMR.

Ninjas in Pyjamas, who dispatched Astralis in the 1-2 pool of the BLAST.tv Paris Major Europe RMR B on Thursday, have now punched their ticket to the Valve-sanctioned event in France with a final 2-0 victory over BIG.

Former Astralis rifler and Ninjas in Pyjamas's lattest addition, Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke, took some time after beating BIG on a second map overtime in his team's final deciding series for a spot in the Major to talk about the emotional run at the RMR, the importance of getting one over his former team, and the path he and his squad are on now.

You did it, you made it through on the final day of the RMR. Are emotions running high?

Emotions are running really high, my heart was beating from yesterday against Astralis to today against BIG. I feel like it was two really intense matches. Personally, for me, yesterday was more so, individually speaking. Today, when you're on the brink of losing a second map, it's always intense in your body because you want it so bad.

You mention the Astralis game. NIP didn't even let us talk to you yesterday after that, perhaps there were too many emotions. What was it like getting one on them?

It was important for me, I really wanted to beat them, I wanted to show them what they're missing, and it meant the world for me to beat them. Of course it's really sad that they went out, but it had to be done. It was a good win.

You struggled a bit on Mirage today against BIG, but pulled through in the end. What was that little extra something you found to pull it over the line?

We forced the rounds a bit too much and got a bit too stressed. It was a bit too hectic, we were trying to finish the rounds blind. We were running into sites against three or four player stacks all of the time. I felt that we didn't really do what we agreed on. Then we took a tactical pause and said 'OK, let's play NIP CS, play like we want to play.' Then we got started and won rounds again.

Coming into the RMR, Aleksib said something along the lines of 'it feels like nobody believes in us.' How is it dealing with that? Is it hurting your confidence and your belief in yourself?

Yeah, I mean... Not for me, personally. If we believe in ourselves, show good structure, good teamplay and actually prove to be a really good team, then I don't give a fuck about what people say on the outside. That's just irrelevant pressure for you as an individual player and as a team.

Everything boils down to results, right? So if we get results, people will start talking good about us again. But yeah, they have been in a slump, and they're in a slump with me as well, I'm also a part of it because we changed so many things. So yeah, of course it adds pressure, but I don't think it should affect you that much.

NIP came into the RMR, as an organization, the lowest it has ever been in the ranking. Does the shirt weigh on you guys or do you not have it in your mind?

Honestly, we have thought about it a little bit. It's rough to go down in the rankings and it's the lowest point they've ever been in. So yeah, it's just a rough feeling because you want to be with the big dogs, you want to be up in the rankings, you want to be a good team. You strive for those things.

If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen, but I feel like we're on a good path right now. Moving forward, building structure, building game plans, finding each other as individuals, players and friends. I feel like our bonding is way better than when I joined at the beginning of the year. So of course it weighs on you a little bit, but they gave us the room to work.

There have been struggles, but now you can kind of breathe a sigh of relief having made it through the RMR. You also beat some teams that are having their own struggles, as well. So within the struggling teams...

We're the best struggling team. [laughs]

What path are you on, how are you going to be feeling by the time the Paris Major rolls around?

I don't think we can take into consideration if other teams are in slumps, the only thing we need to focus on is getting individual confidence and getting results in so we feel like we are a good team. If everything is losses then you lose confidence as a player, so the main reason that we play is to become a better team and we're really good at focusing on that.

We're really good at talking about the hard things that need to change and also just building. It's the building phase, still, we've changed so much that you couldn't believe it.