Just after the new millennium, people could stop worrying about computers taking over the world. Little did they know that this was the time when Richard Landström tried out Counter-Strike for the very first time, and he was about to conquer the world through it.



He was only an eleven year old kid from Umeå, Sweden when he tried out Counter-Strike for the first time. Thanks to his elder brothers' fondness of the game, he stumbled upon the FPS title that was going to become one of the biggest games in esport history.

I tried out CS for the first time thanks to my big brothers, who played from our home, lagging on our 56k connection. We used to have LAN's around here, with my bothers' friends and so on, and they played alot back in the day. Other than that, I played alot of video games when I was younger, so I have always been interested in gaming.

After a couple of years of playing, he made a name for himself within the Swedish online cup scene with the team ChiLi, who later on would get a small sponsorship from the LAN-café spiXel. The time playing in the scene paid off, and eventually he got his first break with the team H2k.





H2k won the Swedish Championship, which meant a trip to Paris, France where they played the ESWC against the top teams in the world. Their performance was decent, and after a while they switched both tactician and organization. They now became Lions, where Xizt would be seen from around the world.

I learned alot in Lions. I don't think I had ever played with an in game leader as good as threat before. Everything was so organized and we had a really great lineup. I'd probably say that I developed alot in Lions, as I went to my first international tournamnet with them (as H2k).

Impressive performances against the world elite made people see Lions for more than just another semi elite team, and after only four months in the organization, Xizt was snatched by the world famous organization fnatic.

It was tough having to leave Lions since I enjoyed the team so much and we had so much fun together. If I would have staid, we could have become something really great together, it felt good towards the end but somehow fnatic felt more tempting.

Once the new fnatic teams first LAN event was played, things couldn't have gone better. The team won one of the most apticipated tournaments in history of Counter-Strike, IEM Europe in Kiev, much thanks to the brilliant performance from Xizt throughout the tournament – especially in the grand final.



Xizt got the Most Valuable Player award, but after the win, the team had a hard time finding their rythm. They eventually found it though, by promoting Xizt to in game leader in March of 2012. After this, they pretty much dominated until last week, when Landström decided to switch to CS:GO.



If there is one player who is leaving Counter-Strike 1.6 on top, it's Richard Landström. As the in game leader of his previous team, he managed to take his team to six grand finals in six LAN tournaments, winning four of them. Though, the role of in game leader won't be his in Ninjas In Pyjamas as Robin "Fifflaren" Johansson is more experienced.

I have no problems what so ever not being the in game leader. It was fun to lead fnatic for a while, but it's exhausting aswell, practicing so much, being active by talking all the time. I didn't feel like I got worse at fragging as an in game leader through, it's not like I get a worse aim all of a sudden just because I call a tactic, haha. I think it's good that Fifflaren will act in game leader. The game does look more like Source and he's got greater experiences there, I think it will be great!

Richard had previously though of giving CS:GO a go, and when he was asked to join NiP he felt it was a natural path to take. Though to him, what's more exciting about Global Offensive isn't necessarily the game itself, but the scene and everything else around it.

It's always fun to try something new, but mostly I look forward to, hopefully, see the 1.6 and Source scene combind and make CS:GO a huge game.

Of course, Xizt is determined to make Ninjas In Pyjamas the best CS:GO team in the world, and the ingredients to make this happen is a combination of experience from both the 1.6 and Source scene and motivation, spiced up with a great team spirit.

Everyone are really motivated and we have a great mixture of players. We have f0rest and GeT_RiGhT, two of the best players in history of Counter-Strike, and two Source players who are really talented. Fifflaren and friberg will also help us, the 1.6 players, alot since the game looks more like Source. We also get along really well and have alot of fun outside of the game aswell, something that is incredibly important if you want to become a good team.