Counter-Strike and Dota have many similarities. They are Valves two most successful games, they were both originally mods, both are the most competitive esport in their genre. Finally, many esports organizations have squads in both games and one of those organizations is Ninjas in Pyjamas. The renowned CS brand entered Dota 2 back in 2015 by acquiring the full Swedish team Lajons. Led by Era, the squad found modest success until their first big victory at MLG Pro League Season 2 LAN finals in Austin. A fleeting victory that was destroyed by a disastrous TI5 EU qualifiers run and another early exit in the Frankfurt Major qualifiers.
A year after those defeats, the organization dropped the ?Swedes-only policy and picked up a new team. Unfortunately they had yet another disappointing year in 2017. Dota was just not working for the CS giant and doubts grew about whether or not they would stay in the scene. Meanwhile, PPD was leading Optic Gaming to a respectable run in TI8 with the Green Wall reaching 7th-8th placing, just one step shy of giants Team Secret and Virtus.Pro. But for unknown reasons, probably because Zai left for Secret, PPD decided to leave the org and headed to his second most-hated scene, Europe.
With a surprising turn of events, the one and only Captain-America of Dota 2 was now leading one of the most recognizable European orgs in the world. With a squad that has no other North-Americans at that. A squad filled with the best rejects Dota has to offer: Ace, Fata, and Saksa. Nevertheless, this was a respectable squad for taking a second or third place in the always competitive EU scene. At least, it should have been. Unfortunately, things are never that easy for these players.
It began marvelously for NiP; the first Major qualifier of the season had Liquid bombing out and OG not attending. NiP secured an easy 2nd place finisher in the qualifiers and were ready to earn a strong finish at the first Major. Sadly, 33 couldnt secure a visa.Not so sadly, Mind Control stepped in to replace him. In the end, NiP finished 4th and most of the Dota community agreed that it was all thanks to Mind Control. This disruption to the DPC rankings meant that NiP became a main focus of attention for the rest of Europe. PPD secured valuable points, but he had to prove that it was NiP, not Mind Control, that earned that finish. Things went south immediately as NiP lost in the qualifiers against The Final Tribe and had to settle with a second place in the Minor qualifier behind returning TI champions, OG.
NiP proceeded to miss two DPC events in a row. Now, any team at that position would make a roster swap, but in a surprising return NiP secured first place in the Dreamleague Major qualifiers. Their success was short-lived though as NiP made an early exit from the tournament. The downward slide continued after losing in the qualifier for the Paris Major. NiPs qualifier loss to The Final Tribe here proved to be their lowest low point yet. Any other team would make a change, but Dota is a game of second chances. NiP quickly earned qualification for the DotaPit Minor, a very important tournament for them. If they couldnt win this, how could they expect to do anything at a Major? It wouldnt be a cakewalk, though. After all, EHOME was also in the Minor and was playing an impressive level of Dota. EHOME were yet another team too strong for the Minor, but not strong enough to win their region. They would be a major obstacle for NiP.
In the end, NiP secured the tickets to Paris after defeating EHOME in a very close 3-2 final. They earned a solid 5th-6th place in Paris and, more importantly, they took down juggernauts Vici Gaming. History would repeat itself for the following Major and Minor. NiP failed to qualify for the Major before winning the Minor finals by a 3-2 scoreline. The points didnt matter anymore, NiP were qualified, but they needed every bit of practice they could get before TI. Epicenter could have been an improvement over MDL, or at least NiP could have stayed the course. It wasnt to be, though, as NiP went out in nearly last place to Gambit Esports.
Coming into the biggest esports event of the year, every player at NiP has something very personal to fight for. They have something to prove, to themselves and the world.They probably dont believe that they will actually lift the Aegis, but many of them must prove that they dont deserve to be the leftovers and rejects of better teams.
The Lounge
Team Ninja
Submitted by ppinky, 23-07-2019, 09:01 AM, Thread ID: 137874
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