Device to NiP won’t work

You read that right. Device to NiP isn’t going to work, because Jak said so.

Alright, it’s a bit more complex than that. First off, let’s define what we would define as success for this roster. Given the cost of bringing in the Dane now, instead of waiting to get him on the cheap once his contract ends, NiP have to be looking to winning the Major in Stockholm.

Is Device really that good?

Now I’m pretty sure that isn’t going to happen, so having that as the only success seems insincere. So let’s say, NiP would have to be a top five team in the world within 12 months for a $1m move to make sense.

Device is good. Really good. But he’s not an explosive hard carry in the same way a ZywOo, or s1mple is; or at least he hasn’t shown that he is just yet. He’s a phenomenal passive player, maybe the smartest AWPer we’ve ever seen – but just how valuable that skill is in a mid-tier team is up for debate. 

Astralis were a well-oiled machine with fraggers to front line for the sniper. It was one of the best teams of all time, and Device was a cog in the machine. Outside of that, he’s always been a really good player – don’t get me wrong – but was only a superstar in Astralis’ superteam.

I don’t think that Device’s skills will manifest themselves as well on a team that isn’t as good individually, and without the best IGL of all time. It especially won’t be helped by the fact that NiP’s best player was nawwk, who was the one replaced. 

ztr might be an exciting prospect, but he’s not xyp9x. REZ is a great entry fragger, but he’s not a round-changer like dupreeh is. I’m sure you get the picture by now.

Device is a wonderful player, he truly is. But he’s not a hard 1v9 carry, and if NiP are to be one of the best in the world, he might have to be. Actually, that’s not entirely fair. He might be a 1v9 carry now, but there’s very little to suggest he’s as good a player outside of Astralis’ system.

Not yet, at least. Maybe NiP will take the Major in Stockholm and I’ll look a bit silly.

“We were just lucky with timings and stuff”