The Dane will be stepping in for OG amid reports of his permanent signing with the organization.

OG will be using Nikolaj "⁠niko⁠" Kristensen as a stand-in during the DreamHack Masters Spring Europe Closed Qualifier, the organization announced before their first match in the tournament against Nordavind at 17:00 .

The 22-year-old will step in as a replacement for Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt, who was benched from the team late last month after the two sides "didn't agree on how to consistently perform at the highest level".

niko steps in for OG

niko, who has been sitting on HEROIC's bench since late-February after Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali and Rasmus "⁠sjuush⁠" Beck took his and Johannes "⁠b0RUP⁠" Borup's place in the active roster, has been closely linked with the European side for the past week after HLTV.org reported that OG had expressed interest in signing the Dane.

The DreamHack Masters Spring closed qualifier will run from March 6-7 and is set to hand out three spots at the $250,000 main event, which the organizers are hoping to host in a studio location on LAN on April 29-May 9.

OG's lineup for the DreamHack Masters Spring closed qualifier will be:

Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen
Issa "⁠ISSAA⁠" Murad
Mateusz "⁠mantuu⁠" Wilczewski
Valdemar "⁠valde⁠" Bjørn Vangså
Nikolaj "⁠niko⁠" Kristensen (stand-in)

Casper "⁠ruggah⁠" Due (coach)

Nathan 'NBK-' Schmitt Age: 26 Team: OGB Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 1914 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.67 Rasmus 'sjuush' Beck Age: 22 Team: HEROIC Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 611 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.64 Mateusz 'mantuu' Wilczewski Age: 23 Team: OG Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 550 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.63 Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn Vangså Age: 25 Team: OG Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 1098 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.65 Johannes 'b0RUP' Borup Age: 21 Team: HEROICB Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 1177 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.68 Casper 'ruggah' Due Age: 32 Team: OGC Issa 'ISSAA' Murad Age: 24 Team: OG Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 790 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.65 Ismail 'refrezh' Ali Age: 23 Team: HEROIC Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 771 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.65 HEROIC #14 Casper 'cadiaN' MøllerIsmail 'refrezh' AliMartin 'stavn' LundRené 'TeSeS' MadsenRasmus 'sjuush' Beck Nordavind #113 Jesper 'TENZKI' PlougmannKevin 'HS' TarnDaniel 'mertz' MertzSabit 'mirbit' CoktasarAnton 'supra' Tšernobai Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen Age: 23 Team: OG Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 854 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.66 Nikolaj 'niko' Kristensen Age: 22 Team: HEROICB Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 1084 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.66 OG #17 Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn VangsåAleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenIssa 'ISSAA' MuradMateusz 'mantuu' Wilczewski Time is adjusted to your selected timezone