We are pleased to welcome a familiar face back to the dojo. Welcome back, @es3tag

We have decided to move @hampuscsgo to the bench. We would like to thank him for his efforts on the team and wish him all the best. #GONINJAS pic.twitter.com/TipUfZXHho

— NIP CS (@NIPCS) October 24, 2023

This move follows a period of inconsistent performance and leadership struggles for the team.

The decision to replace hampus with es3tag comes after the appointment of General Manager Bj?rn “THREAT” Pers, who identified leadership as a key issue within the squad.

NiP has faced challenges ever since Nicolai “device” Reedtz left the team late in 2021 when they were at the peak of their performance.

The Swedish organization has undergone several roster changes since then, with fleeting success, including a brief period in mid-2022 when they reached fourth place in the global rankings.

In-game leadership has been a persistent problem, with Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen attempting the role from late 2022 to mid-2023 without significant success, and hampus taking on leadership responsibilities since his exit.

Hampus had previously expressed his willingness to serve as the in-game leader when he returned in July, but he did not explicitly state his desire for the position.

THREAT emphasized the team’s need for stronger leadership in an interview conducted by NiP after assuming the role of General Manager.

This roster change is NiP’s second in recent time and follows the departure of Finnish IGL Aleksib after the BLAST Paris Major in May, during which hampus took over as the team’s captain.

Unfortunately, this change did not yield improved results, as NiP struggled at IEM Cologne in July and failed to qualify for the playoffs in ESL Pro League Season 18 in September.

Notably, the team has not yet competed in CS2.

It remains unclear whether NiP will appoint es3tag as the new captain for CS2 or if they will make further adjustments to the roster to secure a new in-game leader.

NiP’s Swedish-Danish line-up is scheduled to make their CS2 debut on October 26 against long-standing rivals Fnatic at the Roobet Cup 2023.

The organization hopes that these changes will help them regain their competitive edge in the Counter-Strike scene.

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The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive matchup, which took place on January 20, was the opening game for the Group B fixtures. Top esports betting sites pegged the American franchise as close favorites and COL as outsiders. It ended with FaZe Clan securing a commanding win, sweeping Complexity across Inferno and Overpass (2-0).

The first map of the game, Inferno, was selected by FaZe. The match started with the European franchise taking an early lead over their North American counterpart. COL tried to make a comeback but ended the first half of the map with a 5-round differential (5-10) in favor of FaZe.

The second half was a different ball game as FaZe had COL on a choke hold, allowing the franchise to secure only a round of victory. FaZe decimated the Johnny “JT” Theodosiou-led franchise, finishing the map with a 10-6 statline.

By the end of Inferno, FaZe Clan’s Helvijs “broky” Saukants was by far the best player from both teams, recording the most kills and one of the lowest deaths. He led his team with 25 frags and 13 deaths while Justine “FaNg” Coakley led Complexity with an 18-17 kill-death ratio.

Three of FaZe’s players ended the map with a rating of over 1.0 – broky (1.69), Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken (1.34), and in-game leader Finn “karrigan” Andersen (1.08). Complexity’s Hakon “hallzerk” Saukants and JT made the cut, but both players posted a lower rating than FaZe’s third-best rating, posting 1.04 and 1.02, respectively.

Overpass, the Complexity-selected map started out in favor of coach Robert “RobbaN” Dahlstrom, with the first half closing with a 10-5 FaZe lead. Ricky “floppy” Kemery was the standout player for Complexity as he tried to force a comeback with a 1v3 clutch kill. However, FaZe regained control of the game and finished off the game with a 16-9 scoreline.

Newly recruited Patrick “es3tag” Hansen was largely responsible for FaZe Clan’s second map success, as he put up a strong debut performance. The Danish player who was the franchise’s latest addition as a stand-in from Ninjas in Pyjamas was a last-minute decision owing to the misunderstanding that followed the Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke/ replacement issue. He recorded 31 kills on the second map and suffered only 9 deaths, the lowest in both maps.

He attained a rating of 2.02, having recorded an ADR of 130.3 and KAST of 88%, and an overall rating of 1.45. He was awarded the player of the match as he proved to be a great addition for FaZe over his former team.

His outstanding performance as a stand-in player could benefit the 27-year old in the long run. In 2020, Justin “jks” Savage performed exceptionally well as a stand-in for FaZe at IEM Katowice, contributed to the team’s victory, and increased his own value in the process. The Australian player was later acquired by G2 Esports on a full-time basis.

With their win over Complexity, FaZe will advance to the Group B Upper Bracket Final. The franchise will take on the winner between Liquid and OG in the other Group B fixture.

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The news comes after BLAST didn’t allow the CS:GO organisation to use Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke, due to his being an active player on Heroic’s roster.

That left FaZe with very little time to find a new substitute, and they were lucky that es3tag — currently benched by Ninjas in Pyjamas — lives in Denmark and was able to travel to Copenhagen in time.

Es3tag has played several roles for throughout his Counter-Strike career, including support and primary sniper and rifler, which makes him one of the best candidates to stand-in for FaZe.

The stand-in buff is back

Please welcome @es3tag to our roster for BLAST Premier Spring Groups. #FaZeUp pic.twitter.com/8CrE5HNrli

— FaZe Clan (@FaZeClan) January 19, 2023

However, es3tag is still under contract with Ninjas in Pyjamas, which could still cause headaches for the world number four, with FaZe and NiP having come to an agreement that will see es3tag sit out if the two teams happen to face each other at any stage in the tournament.

With FaZe and NiP drawn in different groups, it is unlikely for the two teams to meet early, but there is a possibility that they could clash in the final stages of the playoffs.

Although FaZe have found their stand-in, there have been some rumbling on social media — especially from one FaZe member, Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken — questioning the legitimacy of the decision made by BLAST to not allow k0nfig to feature for the Danish outfit.

According to Twistzz, the change has been allowed by BLAST “for some time” before “suddenly overnight everything changed”.

Informed for some time now by blast that we could use him, suddenly over night everything changed

— Russel van Dulken (@Twistzz) January 19, 2023

With all of the drama now behind them, FaZe Clan will be very short favourites ($1.17 with GG Bet) when they begin their BLAST Premier Spring Groups campaign against Complexity on Friday at 12pm CET.

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Ninjas in Pyjamas made the announcement via a tweet on their official Twitter page, stating their es3tag has been allowed to explore his options for the 2023 season.

“In preparation of the next year we’ve been evaluating the team composition overall, and have moved Patrick “es3tag” Hansen to the bench, and are allowing him to explore new opportunities ahead of the 2023 season,” Ninjas in Pyjamas said.

“Patrick has been a fantastic team mate, colleague and player to have at NIP. We have nothing but good things to say about him, and we are sure he will find success where ever he goes next.”

This decision follows the significant changes undergone by the organization a few months ago, including the departure of Danish sniper Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz. Dev1ce joined NiP in April 2021 but spent the entire year of CSGO season on medical leave before returning to Astralis. The move has left a notable gap in the outfit’s roster and will likely affect their performance in future competitions.

After dev1ce’s absence, NiP enlisted es3tag, who had gained fame with Heroic from 2017 to 2020 but struggled to establish himself during brief stints with Astralis, Cloud9 and Complexity. Despite some strong finishes at major events and a few smaller victories during 2022, NiP and es3tag were unable to reach the high level of competitiveness the organization had previously achieved.

During the final months of es3tag’s tenure with NiP, the organization decided to change their in-game leadership by acquiring Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen, formerly of ENCE/OG. Despite expectations, the team managed to achieve a 3-0 run at the IEM Rio European RMR, securing a Legends spot at the IEM Rio tournament. However, NiP, unfortunately, performed poorly at the Legends Stage of IEM Rio, finishing with a 0-3 record.

After playing 24 maps over the past three months, the Danish rifler has ended his stint with a 1.04 rating. While the team put in a decent performance at the Blast Premier Fall Final, they were unable to achieve exceptional results this year. With a last-place finish at the Rio Major, the future of NIP was uncertain. The inclusion of Aleksib was meant to revitalize the team, but they have struggled to achieve success since then.

Under Aleksib’s leadership, es3tag played more of a rifler role, while Fredrik “REZ” Sterner assumed primary AWPing duties.

Es3tag, who is currently under contract with NiP, has been given the freedom to consider new opportunities for the 2023 CSGO esports season, whether as a rifler or AWPer. He has stated that he will take his time to carefully consider his options and a new team for him is not expected to be announced immediately.

“Benched by Ninjas in Pyjamas. A bumpy road, but I’m standing here at the end, proud of what we’ve accomplished,” es3tag tweeted.

“I will be taking my time to properly gauge what’s next for me. Wishing the best for my teammates and NiP, it’s been a ride I’ll always remember.”

Ninjas in Pyjamas are yet to reveal who the fifth player of their 2023 CS:GO roster would be. It is expected that the franchise would announce the newest member in the coming days ahead of the 2023 Intel Extreme Masters Katowice.

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The news could spell disaster for China’s FunPlus Phoenix, who had hoped to acquire the promising Danish pro as part of a deal that would see them sign the entire Heroic CS:GO roster. It is understood that FPX could call off negotiations if es3tag ends up leaving for Astralis.

Should the deal between Heroic and FunPlus Phoenix collapse, the latter side would have no team to field at FLASHPOINT. That would throw yet another wrench in the works for the nascent CS:GO league, which secured only eight partnered teams instead of the desired 10 ahead of its launch and was just recently forced to turn to an online format amid the coronavirus outbreak.

“I am unable to comment at this moment, as we are making legal preparations,” said Erik Askered, CEO of Heroic.

“This is due to the fact that we know and can prove that Astralis has acted in bad faith, and have considerably affected the sale of Heroic to FPX.”

If es3tag ends up leaving for Astralis, it would mark the organisation’s first roster change since signing Emil “Magisk” Reif from OpTic Gaming as a replacement for Markus “Kjaerbye” Kj?rbye in February 2018. Although Kj?rbye’s departure was a massive shock, the move marked the beginning of a golden era for Denmark’s top CS:GO team.

Since then, Astralis have won 16 high-profile events, including three consecutive CS:GO Major titles and Intel Grand Slam Season 1, while holding onto first place in the CS:GO world rankings for a record 406 consecutive days. That streak came to an end earlier this month when Natus Vincere took over the no.1 ranking with their win at IEM Katowice.

Es3tag was first seen in a competitive CS:GO environment in 2014, when he played under über n00bz. He later played for several low-level teams, including KappaKappa, Epiphany Bolt, Team Orbit, HeyGuys, Escape Gaming, and Tricked Esports, before teaming up with Heroic in June 2017.

With Heroic, es3tag achieved a handful of solid results at A-Tier LAN events, including gold medals at Games Clash Masters 2018, Toyota Master Bangkok 2018 and DreamHack Open Atlanta 2019, as well as a third-fourth place finish at EPICENTER 2019. Throughout that time he averaged a 1.07 LAN rating, won 54.2% of maps played and held a 1+ rating on 60.7% maps.

It remains unclear whether es3tag will end up joining Astralis and it’s likely we won’t know the answer to that question for some more time, considering he is currently in Los Angeles attending FLASHPOINT with FunPlus Phoenix.

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