This Summer stands to be a busy one for the Ninjas, and where better to get the ball rolling than on home soil. The weekend of 13th – 16th June will see the team make the relatively short journey to Jönköping, Sweden to attend the largest LAN party in the world, Dreamhack! The total prize pool for the event is $40,000; with the largest chunk going to the eventual winners who will receive $20,000, a vast amount more than the runners up who will take home $6,000.
NiP, the winners of last years Dreamhack Summer were handed an invite, alongside the team that they faced in the grand final, and eventual runners up, Natus Vincere. Fellow Swedish powerhouse Fnatic were also among the invitees with French side Titan finishing off the four seeded teams.
These four will be joined by FlipSid3 and LGB, who came through the online qualifiers over the previous weekend. The final 2 teams to take part in the fight for the top spot at the event will have to battle their way through the BYOC qualifier, taking place at the well known event in Jönköping.
The event, for most, will be a chance to see how various changes have affected the teams in a LAN environment. For NiP, GeT_RiGhT is now the in game leader, leaving XiZt to concentrate on fragging, and so it will be interesting to see how GTR’s frag rate may change due to the new circumstances. The Ninjas will be eager to push on and have a good event, after being less than happy with their overall placing at Gfinity Spring Masters II in London.
The Ninjas aren’t the only team going through changes. Fnatic have lost long time coach, Devilwalk, which is sure to shake up their game plan. Furthermore, our Norwegian friends over at LGB haven’t had a solid lineup since parting ways with Rain, playing the qualifiers with 2 stand-ins, so who will we see in attendance?
As part of the broadcast team we see NiP legend, Robin “Fifflaren” Johansson, as an expert alongside Bjorn “THREAT” Pers; with Anders and Semmler providing the commentary. The controversial duo of Richard Lewis and Duncan “Thorin” Shields are also present as the Panel host and Expert respectively. James Duffield finishes off the broadcasting lineup providing the interviews.
The groups for the Dreamhack Summer Open see NiP in Group B, alongside Na’Vi and the 2 teams who will qualify through the BYOC qualifier, and are as follows.