Adam "friberg" Friberg — the third MVP Major

We continue our series of materials about the players who gained the MVP Major title. Today we will tell you about the player who always stayed in the background of his famous partners but was vital for the organization's success at the beginning of the competitive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive history.

Adam "friberg" Friberg was born on October 19, 1991, in Gothenburg, Sweden. A large audience first heard his name in 2009 during the version of Counter-Strike:Source. During this period of life, Adam will get acquainted with those who will play a key role in his career. He will meet Robin "Fifflaren" Johansson, Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg, and Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund. It is due to the meetings of this period that in 2012, the prominent CS 1.6. f0rest & GeT_Right duo from Ninjas in Pyjamas will see Friberg as their partner. In August, Adam and Fifflaren will start playing for the Swedish organization. Richard "Xizt" Landström, current coach of Heroic will become the captain of the star Scandinavians. Before the events of ESL One Cologne 2014, this roster will get 17 trophies, will make it to the major finals twice but will lose to fnatic, Virtus.pro. With their achievements, the Swedes brought Ninjas in Pyjamas to the historic top. It was a favorite at each event but was defeated at majors at a crucial moment. Everything changed in Germany.

GeT_RiGht and f0rest kept being the main pro-scene stars, and Adam looked like a reliable workhorse who doesn't shine like his famous teammates but plays a key role when necessary. At the group stage, the Swedes beat HellRaisers and Team Wolf, lost to Epsilon, and took second place. Their first playoff opponent was Cloud9 led by shroud. In the fierce confrontation on three maps with close scores, NIP got their ticket to the semifinals. The future triumphants of the next major, the French from LDLC also lost to the Swedes only at the decider (Cobblestone). This match became decisive for the organizers in choosing the best player of the tournament. Friberg showed all his best qualities, ended with a stats 66-48, and brought his partners to the decisive game. Many experts still consider Adam's performance legendary. In their third finals, the Swedish players faced skepticism of experts and fans who assumed another fiasco at the decisive moment. This time, Ninjas in Pyjamas did not falter and decided the outcome of the match and the championship on the third map. As the stars  f0rest и GeT_RiGht did not demonstrate a stable play during the competition, the organizers remembered the semifinals and gave the MVP title to Adam Friberg who ended the finals with a score of 45-57. Statistically, the Swedish riffler was not even in the top 10 players of the event. A surprising decision compared to the other award winners. What's notable about this situation is that it was the first MVP title of Adam and the last one.

Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" was recognized as the best player in the world twice, but friberg was on the sidelines and got into the HLTV top 20 only two times (11th place in 2013 and 14th in 2014). The roster kept reaching the finals of the main tournament but unsuccessfully. First, it was stopped by LDLC, and then by fnatic. Ninjas in Pyjamas perhaps will never repeat its unique achievement. To go to the first five finals of the majors being the favorite and win only once is total bad luck.

The Swedish rifler has won 21 trophies for all his career, the last of them was in 2016. He left NIP in 2017, after playing for the organization for 5 years, and moved to OpTiC for four months and then to Heroic. In January 2020, Friberg, Patrik «f0rest» Lindberg, Richard «Xizt» Landström, and Christopher «GeT_RiGhT» Alesund signed a contract with Team Dignitas, reuniting the former team Ninjas in Pyjamas. Only Robin «Fifflaren» Johansson, who had retired, was missing for a complete comeback. As it often happens, the renewed roster didn't achieve success, and Xizt и Get_RiGht soon finished playing Counter-Strike. The fans predict Adam and Patrik will do the same, but the Swedish legends keep extending the contracts hoping to perform at a Major one more time. They have long had their names written in gold in history, and friberg will be remembered for «stealing» the MVP title from his star teammates at their only winning major.

Now Adam is thirty, he has successfully qualified for the PGL Major Antwerp Regional Major Rankings with Dignitas and dreams of showing himself to the audience at the main tournament for the last time. Let's wish him good luck!