Ninjas in Pyjamas might possibly be the most popular CS:GO team in the world.
As their quarterfinal against Virtus.Pro is closing in, the team is ready to do battle in front of over 11 o00 in the stands and several hundreds of thousand viewers.
– I got real nerd chills when I saw the pictures from the arena. It is going to be extremely fun to walk in there and feel the electric atmosphere, Christopher ”GeT_RiGhT” Alesund says to Aftonbladet Esport ahead of the vital playoff game.

Few, if any, have experienced as much in the world of Counter-Strike as Christopher ”GeT_RiGhT” Alesund of Ninjas in Pyjamas have. The Swedish superstar was around when LAN-finals was played in front of scarce audiences and the game in and of itself was torn between two editions.

Now he stand ready to once again take the Swedish flag past the round of 16 in a major. But, in order to do that, NiP need to disrupt their classic Polish rival Virtus.Pro – a team that Ninjas in Pyjamas share a vast history with.
– Richard ”Xizt” Landström reminded us about a fairly positive thing, and that is that we usually manage to put up some decent results against them. As we were torn apart by Team SoloMid during the group stages, we knew that it would be a difficult road in front of us in the playoffs, GeT_RiGhT says to Aftonbladet Esport and continues:
– But at the same time, what is a major without NiP in the finals?

”I’ll just zone out everything”

As the huge event in Lanxess Arena began on Saturday, ESL confirmed for Aftonbladet Esport that the indoor stadium would be filled as the playoff started. And unlike the enormous venue in Katowice, where the last major was determined, this time it is only CS:GO on the schedule.
– This time it is even more sick since the people here are only in the stands to watch CS:GO. I was, to be honest, a bit scared before the tournament that they wouldn’t be able to fill the arena. If you look at League of Legends, they have their Worlds finals. Dota2 have TI. Two events that happens only once a year. In CS:GO we have so many tournaments that it may be hard for people to catch up with everything that is going on.

What is it going to be like, playing in front of all these people?
– I’ll just zone out everything. As I’m playing, I’m never thinking about that stuff. And this isn’t the first nor the second time I’m experiencing something like this. This might be my fifth time, so you could say I’ve got some routine from this stuff. You could almost call it an other day at the office, GeT_RiGhT says with a laugh.