The story of how the Chickens turned into Ninjas

It's without question that Europe is the hardest region for teams to reach the top as it is occupied by other teams such as Team Secret and OG. But for the former Chicken Fighters, it only took them a few months to have their roster be recognized as one of the best teams in Europe.
Their humble beginnings
In November of 2019, Chicken Fighters announced their Dota 2 lineup with Stoyan "Lil Pleb" Kostov, Ondřej "Supream^" Štarha, Jonas "SabeRLight-" Volek, Milan "MiLan" Kozomara, and Akbar "SoNNeikO" Butaev.
The roster debuted at the DreamLeague Season 13 Europe Open Qualifier. They had a good run, but unfortunately Team Secret took the second spot for the closed qualifiers after they defeated Chicken Fighters.
Shortly after, Lil Pleb left the team before Charlie "CharlieDota" Arat joined the squad in January as their new carry. The squad participated in a few minor tournaments and though they have not secured first places, they had consistent results. Then on March, MiLan exit the team.
Before the ESL Los Angeles Online Qualifiers, Chicken Fighters completed its roster with the addition of position 4 Adrian "Era" Kryeziu. They succeeded and made a decent run at that Playoffs and afterwards, they tried to qualify for the WePlay Pushka League. They lost to OG.Seed but none of them knew that it was their last series as Chickens.
Their strengths
After CF finished fourth place in the stacked ESL LA Online EU/CIS League, the roster played in the WePlay Pushka League Division 1 under the org of Ninjas in Pyjamas after they were signed on late April.
Chicken Fighters displayed their strength in the ESL LA Online League through their captain SoNNeikO. The former Na'Vi player has played one Oracle match in each of their 7 series where he had a 6-1 record with the hero to help his team finish with a 4-3 series record and secure themselves a spot at the Playoffs together with the likes of Secret, OG, Nigma, and Virtus.Pro. Aside from SoNNeikO's great supporting, CF also had a flexible hero pool that allowed them to defeat Nigma and Team Spirit with their well-coordinated team fights and great player-hero combos. Although they lost to Vikin.gg in the Lower Bracket Semifinals, Chicken Fighters finished 4th place among the strongest teams of EU/CIS to quickly mark themselves as part of tier 1 Dota.
In the WePlay Pushka League, the NiP roster started their Groups by winning three series and even though they lost their last series against Secret, Alliance, and OG, their 3-3 series record was enough for fourth place in their Group and secure themselves a Playoff spot. After losing to VP.Prodigy and Virtus.Pro, NiP ends their tournament run at 5th place.
Unlike other teams, NiP quickly adjusted to the meta and played unconventional heroes such as a Bounty Hunter and Bristleback carry as well as a Lycan mid. In this tournament, NiP displayed versatility in their drafts while retaining their team fight strength as well as their ability to end matches in the mid game between 30 to 40 minutes.
Who to watch out for
If you're new to watching pro Dota, then I'd recommend you to keep an eye out for their captain and ex-Na'Vi player, SoNNeikO. For me he is one of the best supports as he has the perfect balance of an aggressive and protective support, especially with his Oracle. As NiP's captain, I believe that he is in charge of shot-calling and drafting, so you will learn a lot of him in terms of macro decision-making.
But if you're looking for a fresh player to watch, I'd recommend you to keep perspective on CharlieDota. He is an absolute beast with his signature heroes, Lycan, Terrorblade, and Troll Warlord. In 50 Pro matches, Charlie has a 74% win rate on Lycan with a 6.3 KDA ratio. Its followed by his 31 matches on Troll Warlord that yielded 71% win rate and 5.17 KDA while his Terrorblade has 62% win rate over 34 matches with 4.95 KDA.
Era and SoNNeikO have been in the Pro scene for more than five years, while the rest of NiP is relatively new as Charlie, Supream, and Saberlight only has three years of competitive experience under their belts. With a combination of veteran experience and fresh talent, their roster has been seeing success this year. On top of that, their recent signing with Ninjas in Pyjamas also helped them improve and join tournaments such as the Gamers Without Borders charity tournament and the OGA Dota PIT Online where they are having a good start at the Groups. In addition, they are also invited at the Blast Bounty Hunt Dota tournament to be held early June.
Ninjas in Pyjamas org have been trying to find success in the Dota 2 scene for long time and with the acquisition of this roster, the new Ninjas shows a great deal of team chemistry and individual talent. With tournaments more in our way, we will surely see how this roster will develop into one of the world's best by the end of this year. What can you say about this rising squad? Share your thoughts in the comments and stay tuned for more!