In recent years, roster issues have been as frequent for NIP as being naded down to 50hp in Banana on Inferno.
Recently, though, with the arrival of k0nfig, those roster issues seemed to have settled, and NIP now have a team they feel are ready to compete at the top once more.
BLAST.tv sat down with in-game leader Aleksib who is feeling confident about the roster.
“I feel like in Rio we felt like a unit, we felt like a team, we felt like we had actually been building something, and now we get to play together.” Aleksib told BLAST.tv.
While IEM Rio was a strong performance from the team, they still have a ways to go in order to be able to consistently compete against the best teams in the world.
“Coming into Paris we've had some time to reflect and some time to fix things, I think this tournament will be mental for us because I feel like we know what we're capable of but if we crumble against the best teams we're not gonna make it far. If we've learnt well from Rio, we have a shot.”
The arrival of k0nfig was relatively abrupt, and by Aleksib’s own admission the team “had a lot of hotfixes” and “didn’t have a lot of time to practice.” Now, months later, things are looking different as the team has been able to “start from scratch” and rebuild “from the ground up,” he told BLAST.tv.
k0nfig, famous for being one of CS:GO’s more aggressive riflers, joined a team that already featured aggressive riflers in REZ and Brollan. A difficult issue to manoeuvre, Aleksib said that the team has “needed to adapt in certain situations.”
Another factor NIP has to contend with is the inexperience of their AWPer, headtr1ck. Undoubtedly one of the biggest prospects in the game and from the same NAVI Junior prodigy factory that produced the likes of b1t and m0NESY, headtr1ck still has a lot to learn to become one of the best AWPers in the world.
“I think it all comes down to communication and if he can be aggressive as he has shown to be even in pressured situations. In the deciding game at the RMR he really took things into his own hands, he communicated really loudly and wasn't afraid to do anything," Aleksib said.
He feels that headtr1ck "unlocked something that he had been hiding for a while," he continued.
It’s hard not to compare headtr1ck with m0NESY. Having both played for the same team previously, headtr1ck only became an AWPer to fill the shoes of m0NESY after he departed for G2. Aleksib was m0NESY’s IGL when that move happened, so we asked what both players have had to learn and will still have to learn in order to become forces in tier one:
“I had the same thing with m0NESY when he didn't play Nuke at all before he joined G2, the same thing happened with headtr1ck. There's a lot of new things to learn especially when he has to call in English," aleksib said.
He explains that everything is "more fluent" now and that headtr1ck has a "better feeling for when to do stuff" because of the style NIP play, and the fact that "he has a better general understanding of different maps."
And then aleksib reveals that new, young talents bring new ideas to the game.
"Everytime he actually wants to do something it's nice to hear, it's usually a smart idea, these new players are coming up with peeks and ideas that will be the meta in the future," he said.
While growing pains may have become a characterisation of this NIP roster in their time together so far, the same can be said for the career of their leader. After bursting onto the tier-one scene with ENCE back in 2018, his stints with OG and G2 failed to capitalise on any momentum he may have built up while with ENCE.
“I feel like as long as I'm playing I never want to be playing somewhere I feel like I can't do damage or can't make anything happen,” Aleksib told BLAST.tv.
“With this team and what we've been building I really like the fact that we feel more like a unit than we did before even when I joined the team.
Part of that is what k0nfig and some of the other staff members bring to the table especially now that I've known them for a longer while, I think it's all set up to work very well in the long run, when there's problems we'll be able to talk about them and fix them because we've been doing it for a long time.
Overall I feel like we have what it takes in this team, we just need to show it when it actually matters, usually when I'm thinking about all these teams that are here or thinking about us I feel like the best teams usually don't crumble, and that they're individuals don't get shaken when playing a big game. A lot of the inexperienced teams go into the game playing on the opponents terms, they end up being able to do whatever they want, one of our targets is that when we play another top team we want to be in the driving seat for once considering it feels like we've always been on the backfoot.”
The past experiences of all the players on this team, or even the inexperience of their young star, could make the team somewhat of a pressure cooker coming into Paris, although that’s not something that worries Aleksib.
“I feel like if I view it on a spectrum that's unnecessary and something I can't really control, or I can't even think about it because I know things that some people might not know. I feel better currently with this team, it's a different dynamic and everything. I love the individuals in G2 for example but everything is new now and you have to live with it. I'm always trying to do the best of my ability and that's what everyones doing here at NiP, none of the players here are coasting along playing for fun, everyones trying their best.”
The BLAST.tv Paris Major will be the final Major in CS:GO, but it could also end up being the final CS:GO tournament for one of the game’s most storied teams. With NIP not set to feature in both IEM Dallas or BLAST Spring Finals, the Major could be one last chance at glory for the NIP organisation in CS:GO.
“We have had some time with the team now, we've had some obstacles and tournaments where we've gained some experience. I think now we can actually reach some of the potential we can show, and we can actually do well, but again it's up to us to show it now, anything can happen right?”
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