The 27-year-old Swede will take over the vacant spot left behind by Markus “?Kjaerbye?” Kj?rbye, who departed for FaZe Clan in July.
Lekr0 is now set to team up with Philip “aizy” Aistrup, Nicklas “gade” Gade, Ren�� “cajunb” Borg, Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen, and coach Jimmy “Jumpy” Berndtsson, who was his boss during his two stints with Fnatic.
North will mark Lekr0’s eighth stop in a five-year esports career that began in 2015 with Team Decerto. He later played for TSK, Publiclir.se, Team Ancient and GODSENT before joining Fnatic in August 2016. After a two-month stay with Fnatic, Lekr0 left to play for GODSENT and returned to play under the orange banner in August 2017.
Lekr0 saw vast international success during his time at Fnatic, leading the Swedish juggernauts to titles at the Intel Extreme Masters XII World Championship, World Electronic Sports Games 2017 and Europe Minor Championship London 2018, as well as deep runs in several other S-Tier CS:GO competitions.
In May 2018, shortly after Fnatic��s fourth-place finish at the Esports Championship Series Season 5 Europe, Lekr0 was benched in favour of Richard “Xizt” Landstr?m. His career did not stop there, however, since Lekr0 found a new home at Ninjas in Pyjamas, who he joined in June as a replacement for William “?draken?” Sundin.
As NiP’s in-game leader, Lekr0 led the Swedish squad to their first Major in two years – FACEIT Major London 2018 – which was just one of many impressive accomplishments during his two-year tenure with the team. Lekr0’s journey with NiP ended in May 2020 when he was put on the transfer list following the signing of Hampus “?hampus?” Poser, who took over as the new captain of the team.
Finally its official that I will be joining North, I will be giving my all in my new jersey!??
Cant wait to start grinding with the guys, im really excited to play my original role again?
Thanks for all the support while in NiP its been great! Hope to see you guys still?
— Lekr0 (@Lekr0) August 21, 2020
Despite his experience as an IGL, Lekr0 will take over the role of the main rifler at North, but he will also assist MSL with “tactical input pre and mid-game”, as revealed by North’s Head of Esports Operations, Graham Pitt. Mr Pitt also stated that the communication in the team will not change with this signing, meaning North will continue using a mixture of Danish and Swedish language like they have since February when they appointed Jumpy as their head coach.
“We are extremely pleased to welcome Jonas into the North family,” said Mr Pitt.
“Jonas is a player both our Head Coach, Jimmy Berndtsson, and I have worked with extensively in the past years, so we know exactly what kind of a player we are getting in and outside of the game where we expect him to slot perfectly into his role on the server and the team culture.”
In the announcement on North’s official website, Lekr0 said he had no doubts about joining North, even though he was on the verge of signing for FLASHPOINT Season 1 champions MAD Lions in July.
“I am really looking forward to joining North,” said Lekr0.
“There has been a lot of rumours about me joining ‘this and that’ org, but when I started talking to North about the project and what they aim for with this team and their Nordic ambitions, I didn’t have any doubts. This is definitely the new home for me, and I am really looking forward to playing with the guys and bringing this team to the next level.”
Lekr0 will make his debut with North at the US $50,000 Nine to Five #3 CS:GO tournament, where the Danish esports organisation, alongside Heroic, MiBR and Team Spirit, received a direct invite to the playoffs.
]]>G2 ESPORTS vs NORTH CS:GO BETTING & MATCH DETAILS
G2 ESPORTS vs NORTH DREAMHACK MASTERS SPRING 2020: EUROPE BETTING PREVIEW
Only two days after they met at ESL: Road to Rio, G2 Esports and North will renew hostilities in the European division of the DreamHack Masters Spring 2020 tournament.
North, who won the bout on Sunday, are hoping to win their first event since taking out the DreamHack Open Sevilla 2019 title in December. Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen and his crew have produced some decent results in the meantime, including a fifth-sixth finish at DreamHack Open Leipzig 2020 and semi-final runs at DreamHack Open Anaheim 2020 and #HomeSweetHome: Week 1, but they were overshadowed by a disappointing 13th-15th placing at ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe in May and a fifth-sixth finish at the Elisa Invitational.
North then attended ESL One: Road to Rio – Europe, where they finished the group stage with a 4-3 record after picking up wins against mousesports, G2, c0ntact and Movistar Riders. Their playoffs run was rather short-lived, however, as the Danes lost to Team Heretics (0-2) and GODSENT (1-2) to finish the tournament in eighth place.
Although North were poor in the latter stages of ESL One: Road to Rio, they had to play without star man Markus “Kjaerbye” Kj?rbye, who has stepped down from the active roster due to undisclosed medical reasons. Coach Jimmy “Jumpy” Berndtsson, who joined the team in February, has played four games as a stand-in. He has averaged a mere 0.725 match rating in that time, so it is clear that North are much weaker without Kjaerbye.
SEE ALSO: BEST CS:GO BETTING SITES
G2 Esports have struggled since the CS:GO esports scene transitioned to online play. In late March they entered ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe as one of the favourites, but they failed to make it past the first stage of the tournament thanks to a fourth-place finish in Group C behind mousesports, FaZe Clan and OG.
Things picked up considerably at ESL One: Road to Rio – Europe, where G2 finished as runners-up of Group B with a 4-3 record. In the playoffs they edged past Team Heretics (2-1), Team Vitality (2-1) and FaZe (2-1) to reach the grand finals, where Astralis swept them for the second time in four days.
G2’s recent performances look solid on paper, but it’s obvious that the online format does not suit them. Nemanja “nexa” Isakovi? and co. have no issues defeating weaker sides like Movistar Riders, Copenhagen Flames, c0ntact and GODSENT, they are all over the place when faced with half-decent opposition.
G2 ESPORTS vs NORTH DREAMHACK MASTERS SPRING 2020: EUROPE BETTING PREDICTIONS
North are priced as massive underdogs, but we can’t ignore their 2-1 win over G2 Esports on the weekend without Kjaerbye. While we would have no difficulties siding with G2 in a LAN tournament, their shaky performances online make it hard to trust them.
The favourites are priced at around $1.26 to win this match, which is far too optimistic given their form. Esports bookmakers have seemingly overrated G2 due to their run to the grand finals of ESL One: Road to Rio, but their showings en route to the final were far from promising.
Without Kjaerbye, North’s chances to win here are very low. However, due to G2’s online struggles, the Danes have a chance to keep it close and steal at least one map.
North +1.5 maps
NORTH VS FORZE CS:GO BETTING & MATCH DETAILS
NORTH VS FORZE DREAMHACK OPEN ANAHEIM 2020 BETTING PREVIEW
North and forZe will clash on the battlefield this Friday in the opening match of Group A at DreamHack Open Anaheim.
ForZe will enter the second DreamHack Open event of the year looking to repeat their success from December, when they hoisted the DreamHack Winter 2019 title. However, the field awaiting them in Anaheim is significantly stronger, and a strong start is vital if Andrey “Jerry” Mekhryakov and company are serious about pocketing the top prize of US $50,000 and a ticket for DreamHack Masters J?nk?ping.
ForZe have produced a mixed bag of results since the turn of the year. They put up a commanding run at the DreamHack Open Anaheim 2020 European Qualifier, defeating the likes of Winstrike (2-1), CR4ZY (2-0) and Heroic (2-0) to pocket a ticket for the Anaheim event. ForZe also appeared in the United Masters League Season 2 playoffs, where they defeated Hard Legion Esports (2-0) in the quarter-finals but fell short against the eventual champions, Copenhagen Flames (1-2), in the semi-finals.
At the start of February, the Russian quintet also tested their luck at European open qualifiers for the inaugural season of the newly formed FLASHPOINT CS:GO league. They failed to make it far, however, as they lost the opening match against Team Unique (7-16).
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North will hope for an upturn in fortunes in Anaheim following their underwhelming display at DreamHack Open Leipzig 2020. North started strong in Germany with a 16-4 win over Sprout but hit a wall against MAD Lions (10-16) and were then humiliated by Heroic, who reverse-swept them with a 16-2 on the third and final map.
Prior to their shaky display in Leipzig, North appeared at IEM Katowice World Championship European Open Qualifier #2, where they came close to securing a ticket for the closed qualifiers but fell flat in the finals. Although Markus “Kjaerbye” Kj?rbye and his squad enjoyed commanding wins over FiVe (16-8), Nemiga (16-12) and Gambit Youngsters (16-8), MAD Lions (8-16, 4-16) proved to be big a hurdle to overcome.
North have made a couple of changes to their roster since the Katowice qualifiers. In-game leader Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen returned in mid-January to replace Jakob “JUGi” Hansen, while Jimmy “Jumpy” Berndtsson took over as head coach from Torbj?rn “mithR” Nyborg earlier this month.
NORTH VS FORZE DREAMHACK OPEN ANAHEIM 2020 BETTING PREDICTIONS
This will be a best-of-one (Bo1) fixture, meaning it can go either way; however, most esports bookmakers seem to agree North have a slightly better chance of claiming the spoils.
North arguably have more individual quality in their squad, but their new core has played less than five maps together in the last month. For that reason, it is hard to say whether this team has had enough time to gel.
ForZe��s squad is averaging a 1.096 rating over the past three months. North sit at 1.058 over the same period, so the form lines are quite similar.
Looking at the map pools, North hold a better win rate on Dust II (100%-50%) and Nuke (75%-50%). ForZe have the advantage on Mirage (78%-67%) and Train (86%-0%), while they have played 13 games to North’s one on Inferno and are on a five-map winning streak.
Despite their high ambitions for the 2020 season, North��s recent results suggest they have a long way to go to crack into the top bracket of CS:GO teams. They might find their footing in a couple of months, but forZe are much more appealing as the outsiders for Friday’s clash.
forZe to win
MithR leaves North just weeks after they crashed out of the DreamLeague Open Leipzig, where Mathias “MSL” Sommer Lauridsen and company failed to climb their way out of the groups. While they started strong with a commanding 16-4 win over Sprout, they lost their footing against the new-look MAD Lions roster and suffered a reverse-sweep against Heroic.
Since North’s rebrand in January, their ambitions on the CS:GO stage are much higher than what they showed in Leipzig. The Danish organisation hopes a change in personnel will lead to “new inspiration and a different coaching approach”, which fits in perfectly with North’s New Dawn project.
Jumpy is a highly experienced Counter-Strike esports pro who began his career in 2006 with Cisco 9. There, he played alongside Bj?rn “THREAT” Pers, who was recently named head coach at Ninjas in Pyjamas. Jumpy later played under Volt-gaming, Playzone, Blank, Begrip Gaming and lastly Meet Your Makers. In April 2010, the Swede announced his retirement from the CS professional scene.
Jumpy made a return to the stage in April 2014 when he joined CS:GO esports team FlipSid3 Tactics. He later played for Property, Team Orbit, GreyFaceNoSpace, and enjoyed a short stint as head coach for Lemondogs before his last hoorah as a CS:GO player at AliGon. In April 2016, Jumpy ended his career as a player when he signed on as head coach of Escape Gaming.
His knowledge of the game and unique coaching style did not go unnoticed. Jumpy was appointed as head coach of Fnatic in August 2016 and held that role until September last year, when the Swedish organisation replaced him with their former academy coach and manager Andreas “Samuelsson” Samuelsson.
After spending the last five months as a free agent, Jumpy will now return as the lead tactician at North. The Danish esports organisation will hope his arrival will be another step towards establishing some stability.
“I��m super excited about the opportunity to come and coach a team like North. With the amount of inherent talent that lies just beneath the surface, I think it is just a matter of time before we can really unleash the full potential,” said Jumpy.
North’s performance coach, Christian Engell, explained that the move to appoint a new head coach was not made lightly.
“Although it has been a tough decision to let mithR go, we concluded, after a thorough analysis of the entire performance setup, that the team needs some new inspiration and different coaching approach to unlock the full potential of the players,” he said.
“We held talks with numerous highly qualified coaches, and we are very pleased to get Jumpy on-board as our number one choice. With his prior high-level experience and solid coaching philosophy, we see the signing of Jumpy as another important boost to our development towards the top.”
North’s first match under the new coach will come on Friday, February 21, when the Danes lock horns with forZe in the opening match at DreamHack Open Anaheim 2020.
]]>North deleted all of their data from Twitter, YouTube and Facebook without notice, thus leaving many of their fans baffled. The organization even went so far to completely remove their official website, which showed a 404 error upon opening only yesterday.
Just as shocking as North’s apparent disappearance from the face of the world was their reappearance this Tuesday when they took to Twitter to unveil the ‘Dawn of North’. With that post they showcased a new logo, unveiled plans for the future and introduced several changes to their esports teams and executive staff.
On their official website, North have redefined their overall brand to emphasise the “new dawn” and pledged to become the “leading Scandinavian esports organization”.
The rebrand comes shortly after the organization appointed new management, which took over in October 2019. While no announcements or hints about a rebrand surfaced earlier, North were expected to make some drastic changes sooner or later.
“We have looked closely at the company and the apparent opportunities that are present in our organization,” said Christopher H?konsson, new CEO of North.
“It became obvious that we needed to focus on a few critical elements in the very foundation of the organization that has been built. So we have changed the way we look at branding, marketing, and sports,” said Alexander Pedersen, CMO at North.
As a part of the rebrand, North also added Christian Engell to help their esports athletes improve their performances. Engell is a performance coach who has previously worked with some of the biggest Danish athletes, such as eight-time Superligaen champion William Kvist and Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
“Performance optimization has existed in sports forever. It is not something we or any other esports organization has invented. Still, it is something we strive to implement in an even more refined way,” said H?konsson.
Apart of their organization personnel, North have also re-signed former Astralis member Markus “Kjaerbye” Kj?rbye to their CS:GO esports team.
Perhaps the biggest announcement of North’s rebrand comes in their introduction of a new roster that will participate in the Apex Legends Global Series.
Joining Can “Taisheen” ?zt��rk and Mikkel “mande” Hestbeck will be a Croatian player Dan “rpr” U?i?, who previously played for team SoaR. He will replace Matej “MaTaFe” Fekonja, who is currently without a team.
Rpr started his career as a professional Apex Legends esports player in March 2019 and has since made a name for himself with his 15th-place finish at the Apex Legends Preseason Invitational. That, however, is his only notable career achievement besides a couple of top-15 placements across Tier 2 and Tier 3 tournaments.
North have teams in CS:GO, Apex Legends and FIFA 20, but they are reportedly looking to venture into even more esports game titles in 2020 in a bid to become the biggest and best Scandinavian gaming organization.
��We are going to invest in more esport titles in 2020 and we��re confident that the new players and the new staff behind the teams together will strengthen the organisation significantly,�� said H?konsson.
Ending their rebranding announcement, North revealed some significant changes to their budgets and their brand-marketing. That raises some important questions regarding their plans for the CS:GO team, who endured a rather lacklustre 2019 season and have a lot of ground to make up on Astralis.
]]>The tournament kicked off Tuesday in Montpellier, France, featuring 16 teams split into eight pairs for Bo1 matches. Upsets were expected with some of the best teams in the world going against lower-ranked opponents, but few would have tipped such a significant boilover on the opening day.
While North are ranked no.8 in the world and played well in the recent Europe Minor qualifiers, the Danes were long shots to win their first-up clash with the top side. Team Liquid have become a regular fixture in finals matches in 2019 and come into this event fresh off a win at DreamHack Masters Dallas, so they were tagged as clear favourites.
The match took place on Dust2, a map both sides know very well. As expected, Team Liquid started off strong and soon found themselves in a 4-1 lead. However, that soon changed.
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Leading the attack was Philip “aizy” Aistrup, who stepped up for the Danes with a triple to get his team back into the game. That gave North a huge confidence boost. They strengthened their defence and managed to pull up an impressive comeback, getting themselves in a 10-5 lead by the end of the first half.
With the match slipping away, Team Liquid managed to muster up a comeback and closed the gap to a couple of rounds. It looked like extra time was on the way, but that was not to be the case as North held on for a 16-13 win.
The victors now head to the second round for a clash with FaZe Clan, who bested TYLOO with a 16-12 win on Vertigo. Liquid will face TYLOO in the lower bracket.
The MVP of the match was North’s Valdemar “valde” Bj?rn Vangs?, who achieved a 1.43 HLTV rating.
Natus Vincere will take on North this Tuesday in Group B of ESL Pro League Season 9 Europe.
NaVi have made no roster changes in 2019 so far, but we are certain this will be “Edward” Sukhariev and Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko’s last year with the team. These two are pretty much the only reason why Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev hasn’t won a Major yet and we are confident saying a good IGL could do wonders for this team in the future.
SEE ALSO: HOW TO BET ON CS: GO ESPORTS
NaVi played at the BLAST Pro Series Madrid 2019 about two weeks ago. The results were quite meagre. Getting beaten 16-4 by ENCE in the first match probably didn’t do wonders for their morale. They bounced back to win 16-7 against Cloud9 and came quite close to beating Astralis on Dust II. In the next match they managed to destroy Giants, but in the end, NaVi were eliminated 16-9 by Ninjas in Pyjamas.
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Their ESL Pro League Season 9 Europe campaign started with a 2-1 win over Windigo, followed by a loss to G2 and another win against Fnatic. The loss to G2 was quite an unfortunate one, as s1mple managed a 1.50 HLTV rating across three maps and was clearly the best player on the server that day. Still, that was not enough for NaVi to win.
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North have made two roster changes this year. In February they replaced their coach Alexander “ave” Holdt with Torbj?rn “mithR” Nyborg. About a month ago, they swapped out Casper “cadiaN” M?ller for Jakob “JUGi” Hansen from OpTic Gaming, while Valdemar “valde” Bj?rn took over the role of in-game leader.
The decision to install “valde” as IGL has raised a few eyebrows. We have seen before that tasking your star player with another role is never a good idea. How it works out is something we will have to wait and see, but we have our doubts about it.
NaVi vs North H2H record
This will be the seventh match between these two teams, with North winning eight maps and NaVi only three maps.
The last time they met was at the GG.BET ICE Challenge, where North emerged victorious 2-0 in a BO3 match. Both maps ended quite close with a final score of 16-14 on Dust2 and 16-12 on Nuke. It is worth noting that at the time, North had cadiaN instead of JUGi in their starting lineup.
The only reason why North won that match was due to the impressive performance of valde, who had a 1.37 HLTV rating across both maps. With that in mind, it will all come down to his performance once again.
NaVi vs North betting predictions
We have to side with North here. The match looks like a toss-up and North being priced around $3.50 looks like an amazing opportunity. Sure, NaVi still have two amazing players in their ranks, but their form is not the best, which is why the high odds on North are too good to pass on.
Prediction: North to win – Best odds at GG Bet
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