twist excluded from NiP main line-up

Swedish organization Ninjas in Pyjamas announced that Simon "twist" Eliasson has been put on bench. According to the official announcement, the reason for this decision was the unsatisfactory results of the team.

Chief Operating Officer, Jonas Gundersen, explains: 

“Moving twist from our active roster wasn’t easy, but ultimately something had to happen. We’ve been unable to release the massive potential and energy in our team, and over time, energy like that ends up becoming a negative spiral which is incredibly hard to break, without changing up the group dynamic. New, positive and fresh energy is needed, and thus we ended up at changes in both roster and backroom staff. I want to thank Simon for his incredible work ethic and everything he has done for this team, and I am sure he’ll find a new home very soon.”

Young Ninjas player Erik "ztr" Gustafsson will be substituted for Eliasson in the upcoming matches. The NiP academy graduate will make his debut for the main team at the BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2021 on February 4.

Twist joined NiP in September 2019. NiP's biggest accomplishments during that period were reaching the BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen 2019 Finals and a 3-4 place finish at ECS Season 8, BLAST Pro Series Global Final 2019, ESL One Cologne 2020 and DreamHack Open Fall 2020.

Along with the change in the playing roster, the organization announced the hiring of former Australian Olympic rower David McGowan as performance manager. Also, Young Ninjas mentor Frederik "JAEGARN" Andersson was brought in to work with head coach Bjorn "THREAT" Pearce to improve NiP's results.