Sweden's best: The return of hampus - can NIP catapult the rankings?

Given the recent improvements to overall playstyle, as well as how agonisingly close the team came to making it to the playoffs of the BLAST.tv Paris Major, many were surprised when Aleksib was removed from NIP.

That was until they saw it was because hampus would be returning in his place.

Having long been the best player in Sweden, the return of hampus could be a godsend to NIP, and it could see them catapult up the rankings in the second half of the year.

The best player in Sweden

Even as the IGL of NIP, hampus was always their best player throughout their year of roster uncertainty while device was on medical leave.

As others on the team struggled with inconsistency or brief periods on the team as substitutes, hampus managed to become a star, crafting strong results for the team on a consistent basis, all while having an incredibly unique role.

Photo: Jak Howard

In an era where IGL’s have often become information hungry, sacrificing themselves in order to set up their stars for late-round plays, hampus did so in an entirely different way.

An aggressive lurker, he would gain information away from his pack of players, calling rounds around his own devastating plays.

An incredibly impactful player, his 1.27 Impact rating in 2021 shows his effectiveness in his roles. And, given at that time, they still possessed device as their true star, there’s no telling what sort of trophy cabinet he could have had by now if that move had panned out how it was meant to.

Photo: Jak Howard

What’s most impressive, however, is what he managed to do in terms of calling while having to do so with a myriad of stand-ins. Constantly having to rip up a strat book is something that typical IGLs would struggle with greatly, but hampus thrived in the chaos.

In fact, it might have been this chaos that made hampus so good and possibly why the arrival of Aleksib didn’t have the impact it was intended to have.

If someone can be that good while calling, why have them stop calling at all? Especially if their results suggest that they’re already overperforming the sum of the team’s parts.

A fact that doesn’t get often said enough, hampus has quietly been one of the most remarkable players of the last few years, and his return could mean great things for the squad in terms of their playstyle too.

Role balance issues?

On paper, NIP’s squad now is far stronger than many of the NIP squadrons hampus previously had to lead.

In headtr1ck, they have an actual AWPer, and with the inclusion of k0nfig, another rifler capable of taking over a game in a way that players like es3tag and Plopski would have always struggled to do.

However, on paper, there could be an issue with the team: role balance.

With three typically aggressive riflers, something has to give, and someone will have to operate in roles they typically wouldn’t be comfortable with.

In his time with the team, Aleksib solved this by converting REZ into the team’s passive lurker, while k0nfig was slotted into more Aggro Lurking roles.

This isn’t something hampus will have to do.

REZ has gained a higher level of consistency in those passive roles, so it’s logical to keep him there. However, now hampus is back to cover his old roles, k0nfig will be able to return to roles he is much more familiar with. Forming a pack with brollan, for the first time in a long time, k0nfig will go back to roles that made him one of the most feared players in all of Counter-Strike.

For a long time, NIP has been missing more passive elements to their squad. Players who naturally don’t operate as pack riflers and who can find gaps within the mayhem those pack riflers create.

With hampus, that is exactly what they gain, and although they might have already had a strong IGL in the form of Aleksib, considering the success he had with the troubles NIP had previously, they might be getting one of the best in the world in hampus.