NIP adds Krimbo as Counter-Strike 2 IGL on loan through year’s end

The German rifler joins NIP from BIG through the end of 2026, taking over the calls as the team looks for stronger results.

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A headset-wearing Counter-Strike 2 team leader points toward a bombsite while teammates look on.

NIP has handed its in-game leadership to Karim “Krimbo” Moussa, bringing the German rifler in from BIG on loan through the end of 2026. He returns to an active lineup as the team looks for a more reliable route out of its current competitive rut.

Krimbo takes over NIP’s in-game calls and tactical direction after veteran IGL Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer was moved to the bench. The change gives NIP a player with a fresh perspective in the role and a defined window to prove whether the new setup can produce the results the team has been chasing.

NIP is not treating the move as a permanent transfer for now. Krimbo’s leadership stint runs through the end of the year, giving the organization time to assess the lineup in competition before deciding what comes next.

We're delighted to welcome @KrimboCS to the team as our new IGL, on loan until the end of the year.

Hungrier than ever, he's ready to take on the role with a fresh perspective and help us push towards the results we know we're capable of!

Welcome to the Ninjas.#GONINJAS pic.twitter.com/efgYKMhBCa

— NIP CS (@NIPCS) September 2, 2026

Krimbo’s return follows nearly a year away from regular competition. BIG benched him in October 2025 after he came through the organization’s academy system in March 2022, and he stayed with the German team until this loan. During his BIG tenure, he posted a 1.10 rating and attended three Majors between 2022 and 2024. BIG reached the Legends stage at each event.

He did see limited action during that time away from BIG, playing three matches as a stand-in for Liquid at IEM Kraków 2026 Stage 1. Liquid defeated NIP before losing to G2 and FUT, giving Krimbo a small but recent sample of high-level match play before taking on his new leadership duties.

NIP has spent much of 2026 outside the VRS top 20, mostly competing at tier-two events while trying to climb the rankings. The team also exited early from the higher-level events it managed to reach, so Krimbo inherits an immediate leadership challenge alongside his rifling responsibilities.

The move is NIP’s second roster change since the start of summer. Artem “cairne” Mushynskyi was transferred to fnatic, while Roman “n0te” Hamze moved up from the academy and remains with the team as a stand-in.

NIP’s current lineup

Rasmus “sjuush” Beck
Kacper “xKacpersky” Gabara
Martin “stavn” Lund
Roman “n0te” Hamze, stand-in
Karim “Krimbo” Moussa, on loan

Richard “Xizt” Landström remains the coach, while Snappi is benched. Krimbo gives NIP top-level experience and a clear responsibility for organizing its rounds, but the lineup will still need results before its place in the rankings improves.

What do you think of Krimbo taking over as NIP’s IGL? Share your thoughts in the comments, and follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.

Counter-Strike 2 is a free-to-play multiplayer tactical first-person shooter developed and published by Valve. Released in September 2023, it is the fifth main entry in the Counter-Strike series and serves as a direct replacement for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on Steam. Two teams, Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists, compete in objective-based rounds across modes such as bomb defusal and hostage rescue. Built on the Source 2 engine, the game introduced volumetric smoke physics, revised weapon handling, and a new sub-tick server architecture. It inherited all cosmetic items from its predecessor and features both a map-specific Competitive mode and a numerically ranked Premier mode.