sjuush: "Honestly, I think we should win this tournament"

sjuush feels NIP are set to benefit from the added pressure of the looming Major qualification deadline.

Ninjas in Pyjamas's have struggled for results since an admirable showing at IEM Cologne, losing to the likes of EYEBALLERS at DraculaN Season 1 and Venom in a recent qualifier.

The European combine shrugged off their recent issues to kick off their campaign at StarLadder StarSeries fall, cruising to a 2-0 victory over OG in relatively dominant fashion.

"It's hard to say," Rasmus "⁠sjuush⁠" Beck admitted when asked for the reasons behind Ninjas in Pyjamas's struggles. "We watched every single map we lost and couldn't really pinpoint one specific thing."

The Danish rifler is confident that Ninjas in Pyjamas are returning to their best, citing the immediate need for results as a factor. "Honestly I think it's good for us that we have a little more pressure.

"We kind of knew that we had a bunch of tournaments, maybe some smaller ones, but they could have secured us the Major, so we took it maybe too easy in my opinion. Now we know we have to perform."

sjuush spoke with HLTV following his team's win over OG to give his thoughts on the series, Ninjas in Pyjamas's form and their quest for Major qualification.

Listen to the full interview here.

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What are your thoughts on that series?

I think we played good, in general. On Ancient we didn't win a single pistol round and they got seven rounds in total if I'm not mistaken, so I think we played really, really good. I think they only won one weapon round.

On Train we could have won some more T rounds, we were playing pretty good in general. They had a lot of money so they were also good at saving, and playing the rounds really well. On CT side I felt we just got the control on them, we knew what they were doing because they had a lot of strats that we also have, that they stole from us (smiles), so some of the things we knew how they were playing.

Does it feel good to get a pretty convincing win to kick this tournament off, considering form hasn't necessarily been the best?

Yeah, definitely. We've been working hard to fix our T side for example, you can see it in the last results, it hasn't been the greatest. I think what we needed was that one win so we could get started.

Build the confidence?

Yeah, exactly.

Why do you think form since IEM Cologne, where you had a pretty good showing, wasn't so good?

Honestly, it's hard to say because we watched every single map we lost and couldn't really pinpoint one specific thing, but we just tried to control what we can control, which is how we play on the server; what type of strats we have, how do we think in-game, and also getting xKacpersky more comfortable in the team. He is a very aggressive player, but if you can't use it the right way, it can backfire in some ways.

How does it feel playing a tournament like this knowing that it's so important for qualifying for the Major?

Honestly, I think it's good for us that we have a little more pressure. We kind of knew that we had a bunch of tournaments, maybe some smaller ones, but they could have secured us the Major, so we took it maybe too easy, in my opinion. Now, we know we have to perform, it can maybe help us.

Looking forward to the rest of this tournament, is the goal to make the final, win it?

Honestly, I think we should win it. I don't think there's that many good teams. I mean obviously we haven't showed the best as well, but I think it's about time we showed [our best].