En ny æra i Ninjas in Pyjamas tager i dag sin begyndelse. Organisationen har hentet League of Legends holdet PanDan - som for nyligt forlod Copenhagen Wolves - og træder dermed et stort skridt ind i, hvad der indtil nu har været ukendt land for Ninjas in Pyjamas: League of Legends og LCS.

Organisationen har været i kontakt med det tidligere Copenhagen Wolves hold, siden de kvalificerede sig til den kommende LCS Summer Season. Siden da har holdet og organisationen haft travlt med at få ordnet de mange ting, der skal på plads, når et LCS hold gerne vil løsrive sig fra sin nuværende organisation for at blive en del af en ny.



PanDan hed de til The Blast 2013, hvor Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen ikke kunne være med. Fra venstre: Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg, Kasper "TheTess" Poulsen, Martin "Zorozero" Rosenquist, Martin "Deficio" Lynge og Dan "NeeGodBro" Van Vo.


Ninjas in Pyjamas nye League of Legends hold:

  • Dan "NeeGodBro" Van Vo - Top
  • Martin "Deficio" Lynge - Support
  • Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg - Mid
  • Kasper "TheTess" Poulsen - AD
  • Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen - Jungle


Det er gået rigtig stærkt for Ninjas in Pyjamas siden det den 10. august 2012 blev annonceret, at organisationen genopstod med Emil "HeatoN" Christensen i spidsen. Manden, der var en af spydspidserne i det legendariske Counter-Strike hold som Ninjas in Pyjamas husede i de første syv år efter årtusindskiftet.

Siden da er den svenske organisations fodfæste på Counter-Strike scenen blot blevet styrket efter hvert event, der er blevet afviklet. Organisationens fem FPS spillere har ryddet stort set alt på deres vej. Men det var sådan set også planen, da Ninjas in Pyjamas genopstod tilbage i august.

Ninjas in Pyjamas er nemlig om nogen en stolt Counter-Strike organisation, der ikke tager til takke med at have de næstbedste spillere eller det næstbedste hold. Det ses tydeligt, når man tager et kig på et kort udsnit af de resultater, som organisationens hold har høstet siden årtusindskiftet.


Udsnit af Ninjas in Pyjamas' resultater:

  • 1. plads: CPL Dallas, 2000 (CS 1.6)
  • 1. plads: CPL London, 2001 (CS 1.6)
  • 1. plads: CPL Berlin, 2001 (CS 1.6)
  • 1. plads: CPL World 2001 (CS 1.6)
  • 2. plads: ESWC, 2005 (CS 1.6)
  • 2. plads: WCG 2006 (CS 1.6)
  • 1. plads: DreamHack Valencia, 2012 (CS: GO)
  • 1. plads: ESWC, 2012 (CS: GO)
  • 1. plads: DreamHack Winter, 2012 (CS: GO)
  • 1. plads: Copenhagen Games 2013 (CS: GO)


Trofæskabet hjemme i Emil "HeatoN"  Christensens stue er formentlig godt fyldt op. Det samme gælder formentlig organisationens pengepung. Bare i 2012 hentede spillerne mere end 421.000 kroner hjem i pengepræmier. Dertil kan smides et ukendt beløb fra diverse sponsorer og andre interessenter.


    

Congratulations with you new team and the first steps into the League of Legends scene. First of all, how would you describe this day in the Ninjas in Pyjamas organisations history?
Thank you! It feels great! We have been planning on expanding from only having a Counter-Strike team for quite some time now, and finally we found a team that meets the qualifications to be a part of the "NiP family" as we call it, to be both professional and also being really nice guys, so I cant really describe how happy i am!

You have been focusing on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive since the 10th of August 2012 where the Ninjas in Pyjamas organization were reborn. Why this expansion to League of Legends?
The reason that we started of NiP again was after we saw how some organizations treated their players, and I've been there myself! So we wanted to create a home for players where they would receive the treatment they deserve and as I said before, being like a family! Of course we started out with Counter-Strike since that's where we had most knowledge and our roots, but our goal from day one was to expand into other games with teams that would meet our standards, so I'm just happy that we are finally able to do this and with a great bunch of guys and with a game that's exploding!

When did you realize that adding a League of Legends team to the "NiP family" would be the right path for organization?
Considering it is the biggest game out there, both in terms of users and viewers, that step came very natural for us, because we need to start somewhere! And having taken this step now it feels really good and that we made the right choice for sure!

And some will say that you have taken a really large step into the League of Legends scene by adding an LCS team to your family. When the team left Copenhagen Wolves, the owner of Copenhagen Wolves said that he was overwhelmed by all the work that an LCS team needs which caused the organization to lack and not keep all the agreements. What are your thoughts about taking this step and maybe get into something that might will become a great challenge for you as an organization?
Of course it will be a great challenge for us! But we are more than prepared for it, that's why we waited to long to expand in to other games to feel that we got everything in place for it when the day comes, and here it is!

A lot of fans have followed the team throughout their first season in the LCS. When did the team come to your attention?
Well since we have been following the LCS for a very long time we knew quite alot about the team, and the amazing last part of the season they had! And when we heard that there might be an opening to bring them to us we did not hesitate for a second!

Which brings me to the next question: Why this team?
Three things really! First off they are one of the best teams in the world, and we feel like they can develop even further if they have the right circumstances. Secondly they are Scandinavian and when we started of NiP we always said that we would like to keep it Scandinavian to keep it the family way as I talked about before, and third off they are all a bunch of great guys that we feel that we can grow a lot together with!

Speaking of the right circumstances. Many League of Legends fans are dreaming of living the life as a professional LCS player and all the benefits that they have. Can you reveal some of the benefits that the team will get know when they are a part of the Ninjas in Pyjamas?
I can speak for myself when saying that being a professional gamer is like living the dream! For the team of course they will have a gaming house, so they can maximize their training and since they are full time professionals they will get paid for it! For the traveling, nothing is sure yet but I would assume they would travel quite a lot and get to see some really interesting places in the world!

We have spoken to Martin Lynge and Dan Van Vo who both are excited to become a part of Ninjas in Pyjamas and they told us that they are looking forward to represent the organization. The Counter-Strike team have won almost everything and are the most successful team in the world so far - how will your expectations to your new League of Legends team look like?
We dont really have any expectations on the team for now except that they give it their all and try to develope as a team and on an inviduall basis, and with doing that im sure they can be more successful then anyone could ever imagine

What are you looking forward to the most by having this team in your family?
What I'm looking forward to the most with this team is to get to know the guys better and to help them develop even further as a team and to bring out the maximum potential in them!




Det er både spillerne, men altså også organisationen, der ser frem til, at de fem danske stjernespillere skal ud i verden og opføre sig som ninjaer.

Ikke nok med, at spillerne bliver en del af Skandinaviens stærkeste organisation, de indlemmes - som Emil "HeatoN" Christensen siger det - også i NiP familien. Og når man er en familie, skal man naturligvis også have et gaming hus, hvilket er en af de ting som Emil "HeatoN" Christensen forsikrer, at holdet vil få stillet til rådighed.

Husk at følg resten af Gaming.dk's dækning af PanDans skifte til Ninjas in Pyjamas. Via links nederst i artiklen kan du både se et eksklusivt videointerview med Martin "Deficio" Lynge, men også læse et skriftligt interview med Dan "NeeGodBro" Van Vo.

Links:
Video: PanDan bliver til Ninjas in Pyjamas
NeeGodBro: "De forventer noget stort"