JANUARY 15TH, 2025

Every great Counter-Strike story begins with a great roster. 2024 was an opportunity for NIP to get our house in order, focusing on creating the foundation needed to compete in the modern CS era. We are gearing up for 2025 with the introduction of four exciting players to our CS team. With a mix of young talents and established veterans, this team is ready for the grind.

Joining us from sAw are two of last year’s break-out players – Rafael ‘arrozdoce’ Wing and Michel ‘ewjerkz’ Pinto. With an unexpectedly deep run to the quarter finals of IEM Cologne as their absolute highlight, these two friends single-handedly put Portugal back on the map of competitive CS. Last year, NIP suffered its share of defeats against our favorite rivals, HEROIC. We could not be more delighted to welcome Rasmus ‘sjuush’ Beck to the team. Finally, leading the team as our new IGL is Snappi. After guiding ENCE to historic highs, Marco 'Snappi' Pfeiffer spent the last year at a struggling Falcons outfit. Now, he’s arrived at NIP with something to prove. 

They are joined by last year’s breakout Ninja, Artem ‘r1nkle’ Moroz. More than delivering on his reputation as an aggressive AWPer, r1nkle was NIP’s undisputed hype man and a real source of joy for fans and CS enjoyers everywhere. Also continuing in his role as coach, Richard ‘Xizt’ Landström is ready to take the next step in his journey to restore NIP to the glory days he himself was very much a part of. He is joined by assistant coach, Daniel ‘sprayxd’ Kogan, who established himself as one of the hottest coaching talents in the scene through his work with our Young Ninjas crew. 

Can’t wait to see this new team in action? Don’t miss out on our debut as the Wildcard team at CCT tomorrow at 10am,  where we will be lining up against AMKAL. Yes, that AMKAL. As if that wasn’t enough of a curve-ball, we’re also announcing that we will be appearing on the server in a slightly different team composition. Joining us for a limited time is JACKZ, known from his time at G2 and supersubbing for Vitality at BLAST World Finals last year. Win or lose, it’s going to be a banger.

Whether you’re feeling the hype or need a little more reassurance, we’d also love to see you at our upcoming AMA on the NIP Discord with Snappi, Xizt, and THREAT. Hosted by f0rest, you’ll have the chance to get your questions answered on the spot by the people who know best. The AMA kicks off tomorrow at 4 PM on the NIP Discord, and can be watched live at twitch.tv/f0rest. 

See you on the server, Ninjas. 

Note: As part of this announcement, Gareth ‘MisteM’ Ries has been moved to the bench.