Christopher ‘GeT_RiGhT’ Alesund defected from Ninjas in Pyjamas for the first time in his CSGO career to rejoin old friends at Dignitas, although the 15-year veteran almost decided to hang up the mouse & keyboard after a rough 2019.
The new Dignitas roster is one of the most hyped prospects of 2020 in CS:GO, and for good reason. The team is a throwback to the early days when Ninjas in Pyjamas and Fnatic reigned supreme, with Dignitas hoping to roll back the clock in 2020 to do just that.
The roster is spearheaded by NiP great GeT_RiGhT, who has gotten back together with Adam ‘Friberg’ Friberg, Richard ‘Xizt’ Landstrom, and Patrik ‘f0rest’ Lindberg after taking a break from pro play at the end of last year.
It's time for a new dynasty. pic.twitter.com/HbAcX0T8dD
— DIG (@dignitas) January 21, 2020
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GeT_RiGhT’s return wasn’t always a done-deal though. The Swedish veteran did a lot of soul searching through his six-month break, taking a step back from the game itself to reevaluate his journey.
It took him on a path to reconnecting with old souls — from the glorious NiP roster of 2012-2014 — and getting to know his former teammates even better than before.
“I’ve been talking to Friberg a little bit back-and-forth during 2019,” he said in an interview with Dignitas. “We started becoming closer friends again than we were before.”
While they knew each other as teammates, and drifted apart as the tides went out, both GeT_RiGhT and Friberg were able to bond over each other as just people when talking over the year.
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“Even though we played for a long time together, we didn’t really feel like we did during previous years and it was nice to finally get him back into my life.
“He was asking me a little bit about how I felt in NiP, what I wanted to do, if I felt comfortable playing there, those kind of things, which is understandable and pretty cool if you ask me.”
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Friberg, who found himself teamless at around the same time after leaving Heroic, started to put the wheels in motion to get the old gang back together, although GeT_RiGhT felt a sense of loyalty to NiP that he needed to repay.
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However, as his spot on the team became contested, the veteran decided the time was right to leave, and looked to adjust his focus.
“I had a lot of problems outside of playing in 2019 which I never really spoke about because I wanted to at least have some sort of privacy,” he said.
“I wasn’t performing well, I wasn’t feeling well and…I’ve always been a person that’s able to handle negative things around me pretty well [but] I think this time it actually took a bigger toll on me than what I would’ve wanted, so I didn’t really cope with it as well as I did before.”
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Now with his “brothers” once again, GTR is feeling “really motivated” to prove to the world that he’s still one of the best Counter-Strike players in the world.
“A lot of people have been saying that this seems like people are just getting paychecks, but if you ask me personally, you’ll know that it’s never about that, at least for us, because we want to show and prove something.
“I don’t want to be a guy that’s remembered for just taking up a paycheck for free and that’s never been my thing so I just want to prove to myself, specifically, and to the guys in the team that I belong in the top.”
GeT_RiGhT and Dignitas are gearing up for a big 2020, which includes a spot in Flashpoint’s inaugural season and a possible chance of qualifying for the Rio Major in May. The closed qualifier for the Major continues on March 7.
