NiP lost at the IEM Rio CS:GO Major, but they led all teams in a key strategic statistic

Ninjas in Pyjamas’ current CS:GO project will be evaluated after they finished 0-3 in IEM Rio Major Legends Stage alongside FaZe Clan, but the team at least topped one uncommon leaderboard.

Casters Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill and Alex “Machine” Richardson came up with a new statistic during the Brazilian Major that no one seemed to pay attention to before. They started tracking Coach Timeout Conversion (CTC) during the matches to observe whether a coach is having the desired impact during tactical timeouts.

With the help of esports referee Michal Slowinski and software development manager Steve Dudenhoeffer, SPUNJ released a table today with all the timeout conversion rates at the IEM Rio Major thus far. And, surprisingly enough, NiP were at the top at 57.14 percent CTC, followed by Outsiders (56.67 percent) and Team Spirit (54.55 percent).

NiP’s head coach Daniel “djL” Narancic talked with his players in 14 timeouts and they won eight rounds after that while losing six. They lost to Fnatic, Outsiders, and Sprout during the IEM Rio Major and were sent home without taking a single map.

Evil Geniuses (12.50 percent), Team Liquid (16.67 percent), and 9z (18.18 percent) were the teams with the lowest timeout conversion rates at the IEM Rio Major thus far. Liquid have time to improve in that regard since they’re still alive in the competition and could make it into the playoffs.

Of course, this is not the only way to measure whether or not a coach is doing a good job—especially with this sample size. It’s curious nonetheless, though, to see what teams are making the most of their tactical timeouts during one of the most important CS:GO tournaments of the year.