After failing to make the ESL Impact finals, NIP Impact have parted ways with Jennica “jenkon” Sjögren bringing in the most accoladed IGL in ESL Impact, Ksenia “vilga” Kluenkova.
jenkon has been a part of NIP Impact since its introduction in women’s CS in 2022. Unfortunately, they never made it to an ESL Impact finals throughout her time on the roster, however, they were the first teams to beat Nigma Galaxy, not just once, but twice. Even though they beat the best team in ESL Impact Season 3 online season, they still narrowly missed out on making the finals.
For UK fans, we have our attention tuned towards NIP Impact because Mia “aiM” Cooper, our sole UK representative, plays for them.
As previously mentioned, NIP Impact failed to make ESL Impact finals in Dallas this season, but has been making some big strides after they picked up Niels “NaToSaphiX” Christian Sillassen as their coach. The European team has made it to two finals in a row, Tradeit League FE Masters Season 2 and ELITE FE Cup 1, but on both occasions lost to Pigeons.
However, due to jenkon working outside of Counter-Strike, she has decided to take a temporary step back from playing competitive CS due to burnout. As expected, failing to qualify for ESL Impact finals every season gets exhausting, but jenkon confirmed to UKCSGO that she wouldn’t rule out returning for the right team.
vilga playing for Nigma Galaxy at ESL Impact Season 4 Finals – Photo Credit: INSITE
Even though NIP Impact will lose a core component of their team, they have started trialling one of the best active women’s players. Part of the back-to-back best women’s team in the world, six ESL Impact titles in a row, vilga knows a thing or two about winning. After being dropped at the start of the year she joined forces with the core of 9 Pandas Fearless on Fearless Cheetahs. Unfortunately, they also didn’t qualify for ESL Impact Season 5 finals after losing to BIG EQUIPA in the Play-in stage and subsequently disbanded. As vilga is only trailing for a month, Anna “ramziiN” Ramsing will remain the IGL during this period. However, if the roster decides to continue working together, the change of IGLs might be discussed.
NIP Impact is currently:
Kiara “Qiyarah“ Janssen
Naomi “Nayomy“ Janssen
Mia “aiM“ Cooper
Anna “ramziiN” Ramsing
Ksenia “vilga” Kluenkova (trial)
Niels “NaToSaphiX” Christian Sillassen (coach)
Gna try out a ninja kimono for a bit and see how it turns out to be! Excited to play with the girls, they all are amazing and insanely crisp, like i've never seen before! https://t.co/MRoDUlr0ZL
— vilga (@vilgaCS) May 17, 2024
