Dipping into the New NiP
Riot·6/20/2014, 8:10:57 PM·1 votes·776 views
The Ninjas in Pyjamas had decisions to make after falling 3-1 to Millenium in the Summer Promotion Tournament. Top laner Zorozero decided to step away from the game, and NiP signed Alex Ich, who had recently left Gambit Gaming, to fill the role. To stabilize the jungle position, they picked up k0u from Cloud 9 Eclipse. The two new faces helped the Ninjas to blast through the quarterfinals of the Summer European Challenger Series 1, but the team then had to overcome more adversity.
They lost mid laner Elernd “Nukeduck” Holm and support Alfonso “mithy” Rodriguez to suspension, and had to scramble to find their replacements. NiP secured the services of Fabian “Exileh” Schubert and Erih “Voidle” Sommermann to take over their vacant roster spots, and the team rolled through the EUCS semifinals. The unprecedented turnover has had far reaching consequences for NiP in terms of playstyle, and markedly enhanced their LCS chances.
The former Gambit Gaming middle laner has been transitioning to top lane for the past couple of months, and he provides a unique strategic variable to NiP. He still has several traditional middle lane champions in his arsenal on top of staple top lane picks, and the Ninjas in Pyjamas have used that to great effect. They were able to swap Alex Ich into the middle lane during the EUCS quarterfinals since Nukeduck’s Yasuo had a tough early matchup against Lulu, and did so to good success. The only other team that has been able to pull anything like that off in the recent past is Samsung Galaxy Blue when they pulled their top laner Choi “Acorn” Cheon-ju down to get Bae “dade” Eo-jin out of a similarly tough matchup against CJ Entus Frost in the SK Telecom LTE-A LoL Masters Playoffs.
Alex Ich’s strategic value aside, he has brought all of the experience accrued from Gambit Gaming with him, and that should provide NiP major stability as they advance into higher pressure series on the way back to the LCS.
K0u may be young, but he’s shown himself to be a jungler with more than enough potential to play in the LCS. It was only his youth that stopped him from getting picked up in recent seasons, but that problem has fixed itself. He gained notoriety as the jungler for Cloud 9 Eclipse during the Spring Challenger Series, and one only needs to look at the nosedive that the team took without him to prove his value. What makes k0u so special is his unmatched aggression, particularly on a champion like Lee Sin. He plays a high-risk/high-reward style where he’ll dive through turrets, make plays, and basically live in an opposing team’s jungle creating havoc from the moment Summoner’s Rift loads. The style allows for NiP to lean on their mechanics and develop early leads thanks to the opposing jungler being busy dealing with k0u’s antics.
Freeze is the longest tenured Ninjas in Pyjamas player, and is enjoying the current AD carry meta. He is an excellent Twitch and Kog’Maw player, but also has a pocket Draven pick that benefits from k0u’s presence. It takes a single kill to start the Draven snowball, and k0u is adept at securing that first blood. Freeze has proven to be a consistent killer for the team while the rest of the roster has been coalescing around him with no more important example than against Gamers2 in the semifinals of Summer EU CS 1. Freeze posted a 15/2/16 KDA in that three game series, and did not give up a death in the team’s two wins. That type of performance will be necessary going forward against H2K Gaming in the finals.
Voidle’s style was familiar to Alex Ich from their time spent on Gambit Gaming which opens up major strategic possibilities. The former Cloud 9 Eclipse support can just as easily roam into Alex Ich’s lane to give Freeze solo experience as he can duo with his AD carry. The team could even send Voidle into Alex’s lane as a duo if the matchup dictated it thanks to the pair’s familiarity with one another. While pocket strategies are excellent, Voidle has proven to be just as strong in the traditional bottom lane duo with Freeze. He only played Braum against Gamers2, but it was nonetheless effective with only a pair of deaths versus twenty-four assists. That performance could push Braum squarely into “must ban” territory against NiP and with bans at such a premium, forcing a support ban is a huge advantage.
Top Lane
Aleksei “Alex Ich” Ichetovkin
The former Gambit Gaming middle laner has been transitioning to top lane for the past couple of months, and he provides a unique strategic variable to NiP. He still has several traditional middle lane champions in his arsenal on top of staple top lane picks, and the Ninjas in Pyjamas have used that to great effect. They were able to swap Alex Ich into the middle lane during the EUCS quarterfinals since Nukeduck’s Yasuo had a tough early matchup against Lulu, and did so to good success. The only other team that has been able to pull anything like that off in the recent past is Samsung Galaxy Blue when they pulled their top laner Choi “Acorn” Cheon-ju down to get Bae “dade” Eo-jin out of a similarly tough matchup against CJ Entus Frost in the SK Telecom LTE-A LoL Masters Playoffs.
Alex Ich’s strategic value aside, he has brought all of the experience accrued from Gambit Gaming with him, and that should provide NiP major stability as they advance into higher pressure series on the way back to the LCS.
Jungle
Tinh “k0u” Tri Lam
K0u may be young, but he’s shown himself to be a jungler with more than enough potential to play in the LCS. It was only his youth that stopped him from getting picked up in recent seasons, but that problem has fixed itself. He gained notoriety as the jungler for Cloud 9 Eclipse during the Spring Challenger Series, and one only needs to look at the nosedive that the team took without him to prove his value. What makes k0u so special is his unmatched aggression, particularly on a champion like Lee Sin. He plays a high-risk/high-reward style where he’ll dive through turrets, make plays, and basically live in an opposing team’s jungle creating havoc from the moment Summoner’s Rift loads. The style allows for NiP to lean on their mechanics and develop early leads thanks to the opposing jungler being busy dealing with k0u’s antics.
Middle Lane
Fabian “Exileh” Schubert The only question that the Ninjas in Pyjamas have to answer is in the middle lane with Exileh. He came over to NiP after manning the middle lane for the spring version of SK Gaming Prime that has since disbanded. Exileh missed DreamHack 2014 due to having to complete exams while the other four members won with a substitute middle laner, PowerOfEvil. It is unfortunate Exileh had to miss DreamHack, but the three games he played with NiP in EUCS were impressive performances. He synergized with k0u’s aggression and wiped out former SK Gaming middle laner ocelote throughout their three game series against Gamers2. The sample size is admittedly small, but if he is able to continue to bring the aggression to the middle lane, then the final major question for the Ninjas in Pyjamas will be an afterthought.AD carry
Alex “Freeze” Knezinek
Freeze is the longest tenured Ninjas in Pyjamas player, and is enjoying the current AD carry meta. He is an excellent Twitch and Kog’Maw player, but also has a pocket Draven pick that benefits from k0u’s presence. It takes a single kill to start the Draven snowball, and k0u is adept at securing that first blood. Freeze has proven to be a consistent killer for the team while the rest of the roster has been coalescing around him with no more important example than against Gamers2 in the semifinals of Summer EU CS 1. Freeze posted a 15/2/16 KDA in that three game series, and did not give up a death in the team’s two wins. That type of performance will be necessary going forward against H2K Gaming in the finals.
Support
Eith “Voidle” Sommermann
Voidle’s style was familiar to Alex Ich from their time spent on Gambit Gaming which opens up major strategic possibilities. The former Cloud 9 Eclipse support can just as easily roam into Alex Ich’s lane to give Freeze solo experience as he can duo with his AD carry. The team could even send Voidle into Alex’s lane as a duo if the matchup dictated it thanks to the pair’s familiarity with one another. While pocket strategies are excellent, Voidle has proven to be just as strong in the traditional bottom lane duo with Freeze. He only played Braum against Gamers2, but it was nonetheless effective with only a pair of deaths versus twenty-four assists. That performance could push Braum squarely into “must ban” territory against NiP and with bans at such a premium, forcing a support ban is a huge advantage.
