Fifflaren: ”They were aggressive and unafraid”

Ninjas in Pyjamas won against Wolf - but not without obstacles

KÖLN. Ninjas in Pyjamas started their ESL One run in the best way possible, by beating underdogs Wolf with 16-7 on Dust2.

Tomorrow, they're facing Epsilon Esports, a game that will require a lot more focus.

– It's gonna be tough, we have to play at 100 percent capacity right from the start, says Robin ”Fifflaren” Johansson.

On paper, facing Indian team Wolf, who never before attended a western lan event, was the best possible start for Ninjas in Pyjamas. But the underdogs showed that they didn't travel all the way to Europe to act as punching bags, and started the game by winning the pistol round in a convincing manner. NiP:s Robin ”Fifflaren” Johansson liked what he saw from the opponents.

– It felt good to start off against an inexperienced opponent, but they played really well. They were aggressive and unafraid.

Thanks to the pistol round win, Wolf won 4 rounds as CT before NiP with 6 rounds started to show their skills. After that, Wolf could only watch as the ninjas pulled away to a 11-4 win.

”We're always a bit rusty”

But they hadn't given up yet. On the T side they won yet another pistol round, this time flawless, and followed that with a round win where Richard ”Xizt” Landström was too slow on the defuse after killing all of the opponents.

But that was all Wolf could muster and after NiP won an eco round to make it 12-6, the game was basically over.

After the game, Fifflaren was pleased with the win but at the same time not thrilled about the way his team played.

– Winning the first game was good of course, but we're always a bit rusty coming in to tournaments. We have to get rolling and since it's only one game per day now it's a bit hard.

”Can't be off our game tomorrow”

Since Gfinity, NiP has boot camped extensively and Fifflaren is self confident going in to the second round of group play. But on the other side tomorrow is Epsilon Esports, who crushed Hellraisers with 16-1.

– We're well prepared so it's gonna work out for us, but tomorrow will be really tough since we're facing Epsilon. We can't be off our game going into that one, we need to play at 100 percent capacity right from the start. Maybe we have to get a longer warmup.