NiP’s New Era Begins With a Narrow Defeat to Team Liquid in BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
NiP’s New Era Begins With a Narrow Defeat to Team Liquid in BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
On January 15, 2026, Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP) opened their Counter-Strike 2 season at the BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 Closed Qualifier with a closely contested 2–1 defeat to Team Liquid. The result marked the first competitive outing for NiP’s newest signing, Artem cairne Mushynskyi, and signalled a challenging start to the year for the Swedish org as they fell in overtime on the deciding map, ending their run in the early elimination bracket of the event.
The matchup was part of the BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 qualification phase, which runs from January 13 – 18 and sees 32 teams battle in a single-elimination, best-of-three format for a chance to advance to the Malta LAN finals.
Match Recap — Liquid Prevails in Tight Series
The series itself featured a back-and-forth narrative:
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Map 1: Nuke — Team Liquid took the opener 13-10. After NiP struggled to adjust against Liquid’s CT setups, it was veteran Keith “NAF” Markovic whose multi-kills helped swing rounds and ultimately secure the map for Liquid.
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Map 2: Mirage — NiP responded with a strong second map, winning 13-8. A standout performance on NiP’s T-side was driven by Marco Snappi Pfeiffer, whose positive impact helped tilt the momentum.
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Map 3: Ancient — The decider lived up to its billing as a classic. Liquid raced to an early lead (6-0), but NiP fought back impressively — highlighted by Rasmus “sjuush” Beck’s 4-kill FAMAS round. The half ended with NiP competitive, and regulation couldn’t separate the teams. In overtime, however, Liquid regained control. A crucial UMP ace by Jonathan EliGE Jablonowski on the way to sealing the map 16-13 and the series.
Liquid’s strength in key rounds and individual firepower proved decisive, despite NiP showing resilience and flashes of strong multi-player teamwork.
NiP’s Roster Context — Enter cairne
This match was particularly noteworthy for NiP as it marked the debut of Artem cairne Mushynskyi, the Ukrainian rifler signed from Inner Circle Esports earlier in January. NiP announced cairne’s arrival as part of a roster move that saw Michel “ewjerkz” Pinto benched in December 2025, aiming to strengthen their aggressive firepower and stabilize roles that had been inconsistent.
Despite showing promise — especially on Mirage and the CT half of Ancient — cairne finished the series with a modest statistical output, leaving his NiP journey’s first benchmark mixed but encouraging against strong opposition.
Team Liquid’s Performance and Momentum
For Team Liquid, the win offers early season optimism after a troublesome 2025 campaign, including a disappointing finish at the StarLadder Budapest Major where they failed to advance through the final group stage.
Liquid’s roster — featuring experienced players like EliGE and NAF — leveraged pressure rounds and key clutch moments to edge ahead. Their performance against NiP underscores the squad’s ability to execute under duress, an essential trait in BLAST Bounty’s unforgiving single-elimination format.
Historical and Competitive Context
NiP and Team Liquid share a long rivalry in CS history, with multiple clashes over the years. While head-to-head data remains limited for 2026, historical trends generally favour Liquid in recent encounters, although NiP has had strong showings in the past.
Beyond this one match, NiP’s 2025 results reflected competitive but inconsistent form, with notable wins that sometimes contrasted with unexpected losses. Their addition of cairne can be seen as a strategic effort to push the team closer to the upper tier of CS2 teams.
Outlook — What Comes Next
With this early exit from the BLAST Bounty Winter qualifiers, NiP now must regroup. Their next opportunities will likely arise in other regional and international tournaments coming later in January and beyond, where points, confidence, and synergy under the new roster sooner will be critical.
Likewise, Team Liquid will advance further in the BLAST Bounty bracket, hoping to translate this victory into deeper tournament success — and with it, a measure of redemption after a year of mixed results. Their showing in this first match highlights their continued presence as a top contender.
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