NIP: "We have to be on the top by January 2025"

NIP's management says it is ready to put in the resources for the Counter-Strike team to recover from its all-time low.

In September, Björn "⁠THREAT⁠" Pers returned to Ninjas in Pyjamas as the new General Manager. He was quick to address "role clashes" and "lack of leadership" as the team benched Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin in favor of Patrick "⁠es3tag⁠" Hansen and brought on Alejandro "⁠alex⁠" Masanet to replace Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser.

In a video released on Monday, NIP's Director of Esports, Erik Wendel, and THREAT pulled back the curtain on what that period looked like behind the scenes from the management's perspective and provided some new insight into the reasoning behind the changes, before delving into their goal to make NIP a top competitor by 2025.

The management confirmed they had been in advanced talks with Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller following the demise of the Danish HEROIC, but in the end went with alex instead while the Dane committed to the new Liquid project.

"Even going back to the end of 2022 when we went international, alex was one of the names I was looking at," THREAT said. "He was in Movistar Riders for such a long time, overperforming with the players he had, limiting himself only to Spanish players."

Wendel added that alex's success with his previous AWPers, Álvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" García and Antonio "⁠MartinezSa⁠" Martinez, contributed to the decision. "That was very interesting for us, being like, 'Alright, what can this guy do with headtr1ck?'"

Before that, es3tag was brought in to become the team's new anchor to free up Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner. "REZ has been playing anchor roles and I don't think he should have done that," the team's coach, Daniel "⁠djL⁠" Narancic, said.

The decision then fell on who would be replaced in favor of es3tag, and THREAT revealed it was between Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke and Brollan. The latter ended up getting the axe even though being five years younger spoke in his favor.

Age was not such a big factor, according to Troels Robl, NIP's Director of Performance, who suggested the short-term needs were being prioritized. "If the effect we want is just to be in the best position to continue building in six months or one year, then I don't think age matters that much," Robl said.

Wendel and THREAT also admitted they had to be careful in the last transfer period because of the transition to Counter-Strike 2, which made it difficult to know who would rise up after the switch and which players would not be able to make it. They continue to monitor new talent and THREAT is putting more effort into Young Ninjas, who shifted towards an international roster earlier this year to be in line with the main team.

Ninjas in Pyjamas claim they are also ready to put in the resources on their quest to put the organization back on the top echelons of Counter-Strike. "If Björn and I would really push for it, we could probably get the money for a superstar signing right now," Wendel said. "No one is afraid of making big signings from a financial point of view, but it has to be at the right time.

"The timeline is pretty clear. January 2025 is when we need to be on the very top and have the best players and everything working out," he continued, highlighting the importance of having a competitive roster and not being able to rely on BLAST and ESL partnerships when Valve's new no-franchise rules come into play from 2025.

Read more

Valve to end team and tournament organizer partnerships starting in 2025

Ninjas in Pyjamas are far from that goal at the moment, sitting in the organization's lowest-ever 27th placing on the HLTV ranking. Their latest changes have not borne fruit so far, and they now head into the PGL Major Copenhagen RMRs on shaky ground as only the ninth-highest-ranked team in the Europe A tournament.

Date	Matches
PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen 2024 Europe RMR A
14/02/2024	Eternal Fire 14:05 Ninjas in Pyjamas	Match

The management outlined the post-Major transfer window as another opportunity to make changes and their willingness to put in the necessary resources, should Ninjas in Pyjamas's current roster be unable to recover from the low.

"There's a possibility the players we have right now will be some of the best in CS2, that would be the best solution. But if that is not, then of course we would look after the RMR, Major, that's when you can spend money on a superstar signing," Wendel shared.