Dennis Edman stepped back from the Ninjas in Pyjamas briefly in March to mentally reset after a busy schedule. Following his return at IEM Sydney, the 28-year-old put up a solid performance with a 1.06 rating across the tournament as NiP made the playoffs.
Dot Esports spoke with the Swedish veteran on his return to CS:GO, as well as what the future holds for the Ninjas.
How does it feel to be back on the stage?
Dennis: It feels really good. I love playing on stage, and while we have our problems as a team, losing a few close games, it still feels really good.
Are you feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the next few months ahead?
I am feeling better, but it’s not necessarily because I’m playing better. I was very stressed before [my break] and it was really hard to focus, especially in Counter-Strike when it’s a high-pressure environment. Taking the break has really set me up for the future.
Who was the biggest help for you while you were on break?
At home, I was taking it easy, I didn’t even touch the game and I just spent time with my girlfriend and my daughter.
How old is your daughter?
She’s two. It’s a nice age but it’s hard when you are always away.
It would be hard to be separated from her when you are traveling to events. Is that probably the hardest part of being a player?
One hundred percent. I’ve missed a lot of things in her life so far, and when she gets older and learns new things, you kind of miss all of those—things like her first steps and first words.
You said there were a few problems on the team right now, but how do you feel about your performance overall? You had a very close series against Fnatic.
I mean, it’s hard to say. We have to look back on our game and renew all of our strategies because we’ve been playing the same game for months and it hasn’t really been in our favor. Sure, we get to the playoffs, but then we get knocked out so we have to find something new.
For myself, I think I did okay. Some maps definitely could have been better, but I think in the ones that really mattered, I played alright. I took a lot of impact kills, but as a team, we didn’t and that’s the important bit.
How exhausting was that series against Fnatic? Five hours on stage, more than 120 rounds… Does a game like that take it out of you?
You get very exhausted on stage in those long games, but you get used to it because at home you play for way longer. It’s different to the home environment, because you get exhausted because of the fact you are playing the game and also the atmosphere of the event, but it’s just part of the job.
Speaking about the event, the cheers in the IEM Sydney crowd were heavily in favor of NiP. Could you feel the energy?
You can always hear the crowd through the headset and feel the floor vibrating. You can’t hear it too much, but you can always feel it.
What does the future hold for NiP then?
I feel like if we keep this playstyle that we currently have, we will be top eight for a while. But if we renew our gameplan and think outside of the box, we could probably get to top four.
