Pita out, THREAT in as NiP head coach as f0rest rumored to leave

Faruk “pita” Pita said goodbye to Ninjas in Pyjamas on Twitter as the organization announced it has added Björn “THREAT” Pers as the new head coach of its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team.

Days after announcing North’s Jonas “calc” Gundersen as its new COO and unveiling a new headquarters, the Ninjas in Pyjamas organization has made another major change. The organization revealed the departure of longtime CSGO head coach pita in a tweet on its official Twitter account.

Current assistant coach THREAT will retake the wheel, having previously coached the team from March 2016 to December 2018.

In a TwitLonger about the change, pita expressed disappointment regarding his release.

“It sucks that I have to leave, I’m not going to lie. Me saying something else would be bullshit, but I respect the decision 100% and I wish NiP the best of luck, especially the players. I had one of the best times of my life with these guys,” said pita.

pita also displayed regret regarding his handling of the release of long-time NiP player Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund, saying that he had already personally apologized to the player. 

His comments provide some insight into GeT_RiGhT’s final months with NiP, just as the player’s emotional interview at ESL One Cologne put his time with NiP into a personal context. While GeT_RiGhT’s final months with NiP were clearly contentious, pita’s remarks hint at a larger rift inside the team than previously thought.

GeT_RiGhT would play for NiP through the StarLadder Berlin Major before being benched on September 26, 2019.

THREAT arrives as f0rest reportedly heads to Dignitas

THREAT steps into a coaching role that few would want. The NiP roster currently includes these players:

• Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg
• Fredrik “REZ” Sterner
• Jonas “Lekr0” Olofsson
• Nicolas “Plopski” Gonzalez Zamora
• Simon “twist” Eliasson

That said, big changes could be arriving soon. Reports have tied f0rest to Dignitas, which is set to return to CSGO after a year away from the game. Rumors also suggest that f0rest will be reunited on the team with three former NiP teammates in Richard “Xizt” Landström, Adam “friberg” Friberg, and GeT_RiGhT.

While fans would undoubtedly go wild over the four players getting back together, f0rest’s departure would mark the end of a seven-year era for NiP and would put THREAT into a difficult spot when it comes to coaching the team. 

The former CS 1.6 player would have to find a way to replace f0rest’s production and leadership on a team that lacks both. If f0rest does leave, THREAT would be left empty-handed just weeks before NiP’s 2020 debut at the BLAST Premier on January 31.

With a big year ahead for pro CSGO, the free agent market has been picked clean by teams jumping into CSGO for the first time. Despite the rumors, THREAT was enthusiastic about his promotion in NiP’s press release on the change.

“It is with great excitement that I can finally announce my return to my old post as Head Coach for NiP CS: GO. After working as a developer/data scientist for two years I felt that I still had a lot of CS: GO left in me and that these two years have given me a new fresh perspective on how to approach the game,” said THREAT.

Fans will get a close look at how well THREAT can handle the pressure in the upcoming weeks.