Brazil’s second seed, Ninjas in Pyjamas and their journey to Iceland

The European esports organization, Ninjas in Pyjamas have built a VALORANT roster in Brazil to conquer the region. Eventually, they became the second-best team in the region and qualified for VCT 2022 - Stage 1 - Masters Reykjavík.

Qualifier

Ninjas in Pyjamas’ Brazil journey started from the bottom, VCT 2022 - Brazil - Stage 1 - Closed Qualifier 1. To prove their worth to the region, the European esports organization started by taking down Los Grandes with two wins on Icebox and Haven. The only Argentinian player on the roster, Benjamin "bnj" Rabinovich, stepped up for his team’s first appearance with 41 kills on Viper and Astra. The ex-KRÜ Esports player held a 1.29 rating and a 1.86 K/D to make a confident start. NiP came up against Botafogo eSports in the semi finals of the closed qualifiers. They made a great start to the series with a confident win on Ascent, 13-3-. However, Botafogo bounced back on Fracture and tied the series but NiP’s Icebox gameplay was on another level as they closed out the series with a one-sided 13-3 win on the map. As a result, they clinched a spot at VCT 2022 - Brazil - Stage 1 - Main Event alongside the other semi-final winner, Pancada e amigos.

Group Stage

NiP didn’t have the best start to the group stage, losing their first game against FURIA, 2-1. Despite losing their opening game, NiP showed potential before the upcoming matches as they still needed time to improve. They managed to tie their score to 1-1 by taking down yng Sharks without losing a map, 2-0 Ninjas in Pyjamas’ good form continued for two more games, against Vivo Keyd Stars, and INGAMING Esports. Apart from getting these wins to make it out of the group stage, taking down Vivo Keyd showed their capacity and developing chemistry. The Brazilian organization looked decent in their first games especially with Olavo "heat" Marcelo’s dominant individual performance. Despite their heartbreaking start to the competition, Ninjas in Pyjamas bounced back stronger to face the best teams in the region. After taking the win against Vivo Keyd, they secured the first seed in Group B and started the playoffs in the second round.

VCT 2022 - Brazil - Stage 1 - Main Event

Vivo Keyd Stars

1

X

2

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Group B, Best of 3 - February 27, 2022 - 10:30PM

9

Icebox

13

13

Bind

8

10

Split

13

Vivo Keyd Stars

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

heat

1.26

252

60/48/13

+12

1.25

80.1%

169.2

30%

61%

11

7

mwzera

1.18

241

52/48/26

+4

1.08

80.4%

162.3

14%

63%

10

6

murizzz

1.14

226

53/49/20

+4

1.08

75.7%

144.8

18%

54%

7

6

v1xen

1.11

211

51/44/20

+7

1.16

74.3%

129.4

22%

60%

6

4

JhoW

0.83

148

33/43/27

-10

0.77

80.4%

91.6

14%

50%

5

5

Ninjas in Pyjamas

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Jonn

1.21

263

61/53/13

+8

1.15

75.6%

169.0

34%

60%

9

6

cauanzin

1.09

232

50/52/23

-2

0.96

69.8%

154.8

19%

53%

8

7

bezn1

1.01

177

42/45/29

-3

0.93

64.6%

121.1

20%

25%

2

6

xand

0.89

191

46/49/14

-3

0.94

60.2%

122.6

20%

24%

5

16

bnj

0.78

146

33/50/22

-17

0.66

70.8%

92.4

31%

50%

4

4

Playoffs

The first round of the playoffs for NiP was the upper bracket semi finals. FURIA took down TBK Esports to face them in the second round and it was their second match after the opening game of the group stage. This time, Ninjas in Pyjamas looked much better, taking down their opponent in three maps to take revenge on the groups. However, LOUD ended their winning streak with a clean sweep. Gustavo "Sacy" Rossi stepped up for his team, grabbing 53 kills and holding a 1.54 rating in three maps. On the other side, Alexandre "xand" Zizi tried his best to keep his team in the series and keep their grand final hopes alive but it wasn’t enough. NiP’s run didn’t end there as they had another chance in the lower bracket finals. After the great competition in the lower bracket final, Ninjas in Pyjamas took down Vivo Keyd Stars in a tense five-game series. The competition was at the highest level as both teams played their hearts out to reach the grand final. Olavo "heat" Marcelo secured 107 kills in five maps with Jett in his hands but NiP’s teamwork and chemistry were superior. The last map of the series went one-sided, 13-3, and the European organization reached the grand final. Just like the upper bracket final, the result didn’t change as LOUD completed another sweep to lift the trophy. Despite facing another hard loss, NiP’s run continued at VCT 2022 - Stage 1 - Challengers - South America Playoff. They faced Leviatán, the second-seeded organization of LATAM, and swept their opponent to guarantee their spot at Iceland.

VCT 2022 - Stage 1 - Challengers - South America Playoff

Ninjas in Pyjamas

3

X

0

Leviatán

Grand Final, Best of 5 - April 1, 2022 - 8:00PM

13

Icebox

6

13

Haven

6

14

Split

12

Ninjas in Pyjamas

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

xand

1.24

268

60/43/10

+17

1.40

71.7%

177.7

20%

63%

12

7

bnj

1.21

217

49/35/25

+14

1.40

83.1%

138.3

29%

57%

4

3

bezn1

1.20

235

50/42/24

+8

1.19

85.3%

144.1

23%

75%

6

2

cauanzin

1.01

191

43/37/23

+6

1.16

78.3%

122.1

21%

38%

3

5

Jonn

0.96

185

41/41/23

0

1.00

81.8%

127.6

23%

36%

8

14

Leviatán

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Tacolilla

0.98

207

46/50/13

-4

0.92

70.4%

135.1

17%

52%

13

12

Melser

0.89

159

37/44/21

-7

0.84

71.3%

98.6

27%

45%

5

6

Adverso

0.89

185

39/50/22

-11

0.78

63.9%

122.9

23%

50%

4

4

vaiZ

0.75

177

38/51/13

-13

0.75

58.2%

120.4

30%

50%

5

5

kiNgg

0.70

183

38/48/5

-10

0.79

69.2%

118.2

21%

40%

4

6

Map Picks

Ninjas in Pyjamas have picked Icebox 5 times since VCT 2022 - Brazil - Stage 1 - Main Event until VCT 2022 - Stage 1 - Challengers - South America Playoff. They have proven their dominance on the map with four wins in five games. However, they have also played Icebox as INGAMING Esports’s pick and won that also. Apart from Icebox, NiP are also pretty confident on Ascent and Fracture. They have played both maps more than once and grabbed multiple wins.

Player to watch

The Brazilian duelist of the organization, xandfps, has proven his abilities mainly with Jett. He picked Jett 22 times in the past two months, holding a 1.13 rating and 1.16 K/D. Apart from these statistics, he has also carried NiP’s firepower load with 245.55 ACS to win rounds. Alexandre is the most important piece of the roster regarding firepower and first bloods and his form means so much for the team.

Ninjas in Pyjamas’ roster consists of:

Rogerio "RoY" Lopez (Coach)