Olofmeister Talks About The Legendary Swedish NIP-Fnatic CS:GO Rivalry
- Olofmeister talks about the legendary Swedish rivalry between NIP and Fnatic, which he calls his 'First CS:GO Rivalry'.
- The Swedish derby is one of the greatest rivalries in competitive Counter-Strike and continues to be a exciting affair till today.
- The rivalry started with the grand final faceoff between the 2 teams at DreamHack Winter 2013, with the teams going on to face each other in 2 more Major finals.
The Swedish legend Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer Gustafsson, who recently left FaZe Clan’s active CS:GO roster after more than 3.5 years, had a few things to say about one of the most hyped and iconic rivalries in Counter-Strike - The Swedish derby between Ninjas In Pyjamas and Fnatic. What started with DreamHack Winter 2013, where Fnatic handed the tournament favorites NIP a ‘2-1’ defeat, has continued to thrive till this very day, transforming into one of the greatest faceoffs that everyone eagerly looks forward to every time it takes place. Olofmeister, in a recent interview with Rivalry, calls it his first CS:GO rivalry, which more or less started towards the fall of NIP’s domination and the start of Fnatic’s.
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Olofmeister shares his thoughts on NIP-Fnatic CS:GO rivalry
While talking about his first CS:GO rivalry, Olofmeister quickly brought up one of the most intense and passionate rivalries that CS:GO has ever seen.
“My first rivalry has to be the NIP-Fnatic one, and that is probably always going to be the biggest one for me as well. It is the Swedish rivalry, right? Well, those guys (NIP) were the guys you looked up to and you wanted to show them that you were as good as them or better, and that was always the aim for me.”
There is no bad blood between the two teams, but it is always a bloodbath when these Swedish powerhouses lock horns on the server. It all started with an upset at DreamHack Winters 2013 when Fnatic rocked NIP hard by handing them a ‘16-2’ defeat on Train - the final map of the best-of-three series.
The teams had faced off against each other numerous times before this particular tournament. However, the match that instigated this rivalry was the Major grand finals in their own backyard - Jönköping. Fnatic slew the Swedish kings in front of their home crowd, and very soon, NIP’s domination came to a halt while Fnatic’s success soared to reach great heights.
The last time these teams had met in the grand finals of a Major was at ESL One: Katowice 2015, where the back and forth continued, this time favoring Fnatic. Olofmeister was the standout player for the side, top-fragging for Fnatic across all the 3 maps, as they managed to edge out NIP and lift yet another Major trophy.
Olofmeister Performance - Grand Finals (ESL One Katowice 2015) | |||
Dust 2 | |||
| 29 Kills | 18 Deaths | +11 KDA | 1.31 HLTV Rating |
Cache | |||
| 20 Kills | 22 Deaths | -2 KDA | 1.15 HLTV Rating |
Inferno | |||
| 30 Kills | 18 Deaths | +12 KDA | 1.41 HLTV Rating |
The Swedish team might be a shadow of their former selves today, but still, when these 2 teams go up against each other, the hype and energy surrounding the match are on another level. In a career spanning more than 11 years, Olofmeister still remembers this rivalry as one of the best, and he is surely lucky to be a part of it.
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