ESL One: Cologne 2017: Ninjas in Pyjamas Announce Their Participation

ESL One: Cologne is getting closer, and organizers have now revealed six teams that received the direct invitations for the tournament. Not that long ago, organizers have announced that Na’Vi, FaZe Clan, Fnatic, Virtus.pro, SK Gaming have received those direct invitations and the team that was most recently announced as a direct invitee is Ninjas in Pyjamas.

The official statement from ESL said that Ninjas in Pyjamas would be the next team invited to ESL Cologne and that along with the other six announced teams, they were happy to give NiP a chance at the $250.000 prize pool, along with the coveted trophy.

NiP Look To Retake Their 2014 Crown

Cologne is a very special place for the Swedes. The unforgettable final match versus Fnatic at the ESL One Cologne 2014 Major gave NiP one of their biggest titles, and created one of the most iconic photos in eSports history: Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund sitting on the big stage next to the trophy, in full emotion over his grand victory, being crowned a major champion. But rise and fall does not hold back from any CS:GO legends. NiP have been facing some difficulties as of late. They failed to qualify for a the ELEAGUE Major after this, which certainly influenced their status, making it the major in history without Ninjas in it. NiP’s last big tournament victory was at IEM Oakland 2016, where they defeated SK Gaming 2-1 in the finals. Will we see Ninjas in Pyjamas rise again at ESL One Cologne 2017?“

Interestingly, Ninjas in Pyjamas have won the title at the ESL One: Cologne in 2014, but since then they have been struggling, and they simply could not find the form that would propel them to the success they had back in 2014. They did win another title since ESL One: Cologne 2014 but no success can match those they had in this tournament. The organizers are hoping that this tournament might be the start of Ninjas in Pyjamas’ return among the best eSports organizations in the world. It will not be easy for NiP at this tournament because realistically, all the already confirmed teams are better teams and NiP will have to display a game that they have been lacking in the last two years and even more.

ESL One: Cologne will be played from July 7th to July 9th, and the venue for this event will be Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany where the last couple of this tournament’s installments have been held. Teams will be fighting for the prize pool of $1,000,000. As we have mentioned, the organizers have revealed six teams that received direct invitations which means that there are six more teams that will receive direct invitation while four teams will secure their spot at this tournament through qualifiers. Since SK Gaming was already announced as one of the invited teams, they will have the opportunity to defend the title that they have won in 2016. Besides them, Virtus.pro and Fnatic will be defending their third place from the last year, but they will also be attacking even bigger achievements in this edition.