Fifflaren: "I am speechless"

Following Ninjas in Pyjamas' convincing victory in the ESWC final against VeryGames, we sat down with Robin "Fifflaren" Johansson to discuss the match against the French team.

The Swedish giants have extended their unbeaten run on LAN and have been crowned world champions after defeating VeryGames 16-3 on de_dust2_se and 16-14 on de_train_se.

It was also the second international title in CS:GO to go straight into NiP's hands, after the team had also won DreamHack Valencia in September.

This interview with Johansson, who was recently replaced by Richard "Xizt" Landström as NiP's in-game leader, touches on several different subjects, such as the match against VeryGames, his opinion about the French side and also the team's schedule for the coming weeks.

Your team beat VeryGames 2-0, one map being very one-sided and the other being a close one. Did you expect a game like this?

Not on dust2. That was VeryGames' pick. We knew that we had problems with dust2 before this event and it was really a gamble for us to not veto it, but it did pay off. As for train, we know they are really strong this on this map, and so are we, which is why we picked it. We know that we have one of the best CT sides in the world, so I guess this map was a little bit closer that we had expected, but at the end of the day, a win is a win, and we will take it.

After such a good performance from your side in the first half on de_train, were you perhaps that VeryGames would take the game to overtime?

When it was 15-14 to us, we knew we had to win and we also knew that they knew we were going to go inner, so I think it was really an important round for us to win. I am speechless, this feels amazing.

Yesterday, NBK classified this match as the 'Clash of the Titans'. Do you agree with this?

Yes, totally. Just look at the stats, VeryGames have also been in the finals for two events running, so they are definitely a top team and one of the best teams in the world. VeryGames are a very strong opponent and it is always an amazing game whenever we play against them.

What is your opinion about the ESWC's decision to take the final off the stage? If it had been played on the stage, VeryGames would have had the support of the crowd.

From a spectator point of view, it was a shame, but we had some delays, so there is nothing we can really do about it. As for the crowd, I think VeryGames would have played a lot better, on the first map at least, if they had the stage and the home advantage, so to speak. Even though it on on French soil, whenever we play here, in this mini-stage, whatever you want to call it, it is pretty much even, they do not have any support and the crowd behind them, so it feels like any other event.

Besides DreamHack Winter, what other events do you have lined up?

We have a lot of events planned, we have THOR Open, but we still need to qualify for it, and also NorthCon. There are also a few other events that we are talking about. I cannot mention them at the moment, but we are gonna have a busy year, for sure.