Ninjas in Pyjamas's campaign at the Thunderpick World Championship came to an end after the team lost two consecutive series to Falcons and Aurora in their group.
Following their elimination, HLTV caught up with newly minted in-game leader Karim "Krimbo" Moussa to ask about the run.
"Of course, we wanted to make them sweat a bit, Falcons and also Aurora," Krimbo said. "They are, I don't know, the fourth- and fifth-best teams in the world right now. And yeah, I think we should have at least won a map. But we just have to learn from this tournament and keep going."
It came amidst a hectic schedule, which saw Ninjas in Pyjamas win their Stake Pulse Beat III group in Stockholm before they traveled to Malta, only to jump on a plane straight back to Sweden three days later to finish the playoffs from Friday.
"It's a crazy schedule for us right now. We arrived Tuesday evening here, played yesterday morning, and we are going to go straight to the airport now and play tomorrow against, I think, Liquid," he said.
"But I wanted us to get this experience as a team in a tier-one event. We as a team, and especially also adamb and xKacpersky, they haven't played so many years of tier one, and I just want us to see how we react."
The German also spoke about his first impressions and his adaptation to in-game leadership, winning his first two trophies after the switch, and his potential return to the Major stage.
Listen to the interview here.
Krimbo, your team is out of the tournament after two matches. Give me your thoughts on the run here. It felt like you had a good game plan yesterday on Ancient and today on Cache, but you couldn't close out those two maps.
Yeah. In general, we played kind of decently. When we look at it from the scoreline, especially on Ancient yesterday, it looks rough, but we lost two ecos against them, and then we didn't have good money, and we also lost two clutches, and then it also looks like this.
But yeah, in general, against teams like this, especially Falcons and also Aurora today, it also comes a lot more down to the skill in the mid or late round and also the clutches. But overall, I would say still, we know what we do wrong, and we just had one week of pure practice, otherwise, we just played officials. But yeah, we can take a lot from these two games.
You came into this tournament straight after the group stage at Stake Pulse Beat III. Almost no preparation for this. What was your mindset coming into here? Were you just trying to get more experience against these tier-one teams and maybe get an upset?
Yeah, of course. It's a crazy schedule for us right now. We arrived Tuesday evening here, played yesterday morning, and we are going to go straight to the airport now and play tomorrow against, I think, Liquid. But yeah, I wanted us, first of all, to get this experience as a team in a tier-one event.
Obviously, especially stavn and sjuush have played a lot of tier one. But we as a team, and especially also adamb and xKacpersky, they haven't played so many years of tier one, and I just want us to also see how we react. Maybe we are a bit pressured, maybe we are a bit nervous, maybe we play differently, and I think we can draw good conclusions from this.
Of course, we wanted to make them sweat a bit, especially Falcons and also Aurora. They are, I don't know, the fourth- and fifth-best teams in the world right now. And yeah, I think we should have at least won a map. But we just have to learn from this tournament and keep going.
As you said, it's straight back to Stockholm for the Stake playoffs. No preparation for the rest of that tournament. In hindsight, do you think that it might have been a bit of a mistake to come here, or do you think it was an opportunity that was just too good to pass up?
For me personally, as a player, I always want to play the biggest tournaments and compete against the best. But which tournaments we play and what is best for us, that's a decision for the coaching staff and management. I'm not really included in that.
I don't know if it's good for points, if it's good in terms of travelling, but for me, I like it. I think it's also a unique experience to travel so much. Like, this is our fourth event in a row. We finish now, we go instantly to the airport as a team. Obviously, it's not normal, right? But it's also unique, and I also think it just makes us stronger as a team as well.
We talked to you last month in Belgrade for the 1win tournament to get your first impressions about this challenge and the role. Now that you've had more time with the team, and you have even won two trophies, I wanted to get your thoughts on what it's been like to play for this team as the IGL.
To be honest, I really like it. I think obviously we still haven't practiced so much, but we learn a lot from the officials we play, and I think we still haven't found our style yet, and obviously it's also still hard if we haven't talked through a lot of things because of just a lack of time.
But I'm still proud of how we do and how we learn from officials. But yeah, it's still sometimes a bit, in this kind of short time, a bit... Because I also have to change a lot as a player, right? Because I was an anchor/lurker or more of a supportive guy before, and sometimes I also have to kind of sacrifice for the team. On CT I play rotator positions. But I'm pretty comfortable in it. I just think that we also just need more time.
You're still very new to the role. The same for stavn, for example. He had a very rough game now on Dust2. That also comes as part of your learning process, right? To try to extract the best out of someone who's also new to the AWP and try to bring him back into the game when he's having some rough rounds, which was the case here on Dust2, right?
Yeah. I think he's one of the most self-critical players I've ever played with, and I don't think we have to tell him a lot about what he's doing wrong. But on Dust2, the scoreline is not the nicest, but we were in good spots every round, we just didn't hit our shots as well. Also, XANTARES hit many good rounds and many good shots. But yeah, it's nice to have personalities who are very self-critical and just want to get better.
What was it like for you to lift two trophies as an IGL right after joining the team? How different is it compared to just being a normal player? Is it better?
I'm thinking right now. It kind of feels a bit better because you maybe, I don't know, you work, I don't know how to describe it, but it's maybe more… Wait, I need to find the word for it.
Satisfying, maybe?
Yeah, it's more satisfying because you put in so much work, you analyze this team, then this team, especially when you play these smaller LANs, you play game after game after game, you don't know who you play soon, and everything is so stressful. But yeah, maybe it feels a bit more satisfying. But still, we have won these trophies, but they're not the biggest ones. Obviously, it's nice to win these, but we still haven't achieved much as a team, especially as much as I want to.
When we talked to you last month, you said that no one on the team was obsessed with the race for the Major, right? Now it seems all of a sudden, after those two trophies, that you are in a very good position to make the Major. What would it mean to you personally to play at a Major again? Because for you it's been like two years since Shanghai.
Yeah, it's been a long time since I played my last Major, but of course it would mean a lot. I think Majors, with Cologne in my opinion, are always the biggest tournaments in the year, and that's where you as a player just strive for. I got told yesterday we had 3% for the Major race or something, now I don't know what our chances are. But to do it in this kind of fashion from, 'They're not going to do it,' to, 'Maybe they're going to do it,' is obviously more satisfying.
But in general, it's not only about this Major. It's not about qualifying for this Major and then our job is done and we can relax. I want us to handle every tournament, every game, the same way. It doesn't matter how important it is or whatever, I just want us to always work the hardest and strive for the best, no matter what tournament.
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Martin 'stavn' Lund
Rasmus 'sjuush' Beck
Karim 'Krimbo' Moussa
Adam 'adamb' Ångström
Kacper 'xKacpersky' Gabara
Richard 'Xizt' Landström
Karim 'Krimbo' MoussaPast 3 months
Falcons
Finn 'karrigan' Andersen
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač
René 'TeSeS' Madsen
Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov
Maksim 'kyousuke' Lukin
Danny 'zonic' Sørensen
Aurora
Ismailcan 'XANTARES' Dörtkardeş
Özgür 'woxic' Eker
Jimi 'Jimpphat' Salo
Damjan 'kyxsan' Stoilkovski
Ali 'Wicadia' Haydar Yalçın
Ashley 'ash' Battye