Team NoA

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Team NoA

Year founded: 2003

Team NoA (Norwegians of America) is a professional Counter-Strike team who are as well known for setting precedents as they are for being a successful team. Founded by Jonas "bsl" Alsaker, the team was several times regarded as the worlds best, taking home many prestigious "trophies" (or at least victories). They were the first professional e-sports team to consist of members from multiple continents when they formed the team from highly experienced players from the USA, Canada and Norway. They were also the first e-sports team ever to pay for a player transfer out of a contract when they bought Norwegian player Ola “element” Moum out of his contract with SK Gaming.

In May 2005 elemeNt left Team NoA for the Brazilian team, mibr. Christer "fisker" Eriksson was brought in after being left out by his teammates as a backup player in NiP. Team NoA was ready for World e-Sports Games season 2. 3 days before the departure for Seoul, Korea, fisker left the team, putting his former teammates in a difficult situation. The team contacted Lars "Naikon" Olaisen who joined the team in Korea on very short notice.

In July 2005 the international Team NoA came to an end when it was announced that BrandTheGame would take over the management and method and shaGuar left for Team 3D. The team would from then on be more localised. In late August a new Scandinavian team was announced along with new sponsorships and branding.

The CPL UK World Tour (Sept 2005) was the new NoA's first tournament, and they did very well by outplacing big names such as SK.swe, 4Kings and MiBR.

Shortly after CPL UK, Team NoA participated in the World E-sports Games qualifier in Stockholm. All the best teams from Europe was gathered and Team NoA successfully qualified for the Korean Tournament. After World e-Sports Games season 3, the team had some internal problems after the 5 week long stay in Korea. All players except XeqtR were released and the current team was founded.

Only after a few weeks of practicing Team NoA showed up at shgOpen 2006, seeded as one of the favorites. Team NoA showed their future potential and won the tournament by beating the Swedish favorites, fnatic in the Grand Final.