Why did I build this?

The Timing

2025 was an unusual year for women’s Counter Strike.

On the one hand, VRS allowed top women’s teams like Imperial Valkyries and NIP Impact to complete extensively in non-restricted tournaments. After 3 years of steady org investment, incentivized by ESL Impact, women’s teams were stronger than they ever had been. For example, in July, NIP Impact became the first EU women’s team to take a map of a men’s team (Eternal Fire) in VRS-ranked events.

On the other hand, women’s teams were still unable to reach a competitive level as high as tier 3 teams, nor were they able to attract a broader audience to Impact events. Organizations were withdrawing their support after ESL announced their long-anticipated cancellation of Impact. The future is, at best, uncertain.

Me and Women’s Counter-Strike

I started following women’s Counter Strike in 2023 when I learned that Qiyarah and Nayomy exist. Through them, I learned about their team NIP Impact and their teammates.

For a long period of time, I had been a casual fan who sporadically watched some of their officials or Twitch streams. I was not caring much about how good they performed. My expectations were not high as I knew NIP Impact struggled against top EU women’s teams like NAVI Javelins and BIG EQUIPA.

It had been the case until 2025 hyped up my expectations.

After finishing top 4 in ESL Impact League Season 7, NIP Impact received enough VRS for them to keep playing in CCT play-ins or equivalent events. They were able to pull up some close fights, like one against HEROIC Academy the one against Eternal Fire mentioned above. And in some games, the team’s best player in 2025, Qiyarah, was able to show some outstanding figures, like in a match against EYEBALLERS or another match against Eternal Fire.

These matches made me start caring more about women’s Counter-Strike: maybe something could happen in the future. But this is becoming less and less likely due to the pause of investment in the women’s scene.

To build an archive

On December 15, 2025, NIP announced the dissolution of their Impact roster. On the same day, Qiyarah and Nayomy announced that they would seek opportunities in the mixed scene.

Out of nostalgia, I wanted to revisit some old CCT matches of NIP Impact, and was sad to discover that most of the links, demos, and vods had expired. It prompted to me start recording what I had witnessed and rescue as much as I could becore more things disappear in history.

If good things happen, this will become the prologue of an unparalleled legend that Counter-Strike has yet to witness. If not, this will serve as an elegy to an possibility that was extremely close but never realized. I wish the best for the former. Nonetheless, in either case, I hope this archive can be a testament to the passion and dedication of the players and fans who made this happen.

Thank you,
wynd