NIP Fragadelphia Las Vegas gamble pays off as they climb the VRS

Counter-Strike

April 28, 2025

Daniel Morris

When NIP decided to tear up its roster and start from scratch at the beginning of this year, the organization accepted the fact that they would be starting from the very bottom of the food chain. If they ever wanted a sniff of Tier 1 Counter-Strike ever again, they’d have to run the gauntlet in online tournaments and qualifiers in the hunt for VRS points. Tier 2 is no joke, and online Counter-Strike is notoriously unpredictable, so there were no guarantees for NIP’s gamble.

Then came Fragadelphia Las Vegas. Open sign-ups, $10,000 on the line. More importantly, with teams like Sharks, NRG, and BLUEJAY in attendance, it was a chance to gain VRS points on LAN. Of course, had they tripped over their shoelaces and embarrassed themselves, they could have tumbled down the Valve Regional Standings and put themselves as far away from invites as ever.

Ninjas in Pyjamas win Fragadelphia Las Vegas 2025

So, the European NIP roster jetted out to Las Vegas, Nevada, to take part in the latest Fragadelphia event. Sitting 86th in the Valve Regional Standings, they had one mission: climb that ladder. And climb they did, beating both NRG and Sharks along the way to emerge victorious at Fragadelphia Las Vegas 2025.

Credit: Fragadelphia

Their gamble has paid off handsomely. Post-Fragadelphia, NIP are ranked 39th in the Valve Regional Standings, a huge 47 places above where they were previously. Paying for the team to fly out to Las Vegas was always a risk for the NIP organization, but you can’t argue with the results as Snappi and friends romped to victory in the desert.

Around NIP in the VRS, you now have teams like Imperial, Fnatic, and BIG. All teams frequently invited to online Tier 2 events, teams that occasionally make it to Tier 1 LANs. For Ninjas in Pyjamas, this is the best they could hope for at this point in the project. They’re in a position to receive the odd invite here and there, and if they can capitalize on these opportunities with a couple of wins, the NIP project can continue to rise. It’s still a far cry from their CS:GO Major-winning days, but it’s a start.

Next up, NIP are headed to PGL Astana 2025 in a few weeks’ time, having fought their way through the ruthless online qualifiers. Let’s see how Snappi’s team does back in their Tier 1 return.