The ex-NiP core made its competitive debut today in the ESL One Rio EU Open Qualifiers against Bulgarian teamMK eSports with a convincing 16-9 victory. As expected, it was f0rest who led the charge with a 28-12 scoreline.

The Ninjas are back

Perhaps the most hyped debut in the entire qualifiers, the return of Friberg, Xizt, GeT_RiGhT and f0rest as brothers in arms (with Fifflaren on coaching duty) went about as well as they would have expected against a side with no notable competitive experience. Friberg showed some of his old prowess on Inferno, with sprinkles of stardust reminding everyone how he used to be the king of Banana. Nevertheless, it was f0rest who carried the side to victory, and just like NiP squads of old, they struggled to close off a huge advantage, giving up a few rounds in a row on the CT side but ultimately advancing to the next round in a comfortable manner. New pickup hallzerk has closed out the game with a barely positive K/D There's little to suggest there's a world-beater squad in the making here, but fans around the world will have a good reason to check out their performances in the following rounds and events.

Photo credit: Dignitas / screengrab from Youtube