Team NoA (later known as MTw) was a professional Counter-Strike esports team founded on November 26, 2003, by Norwegian player Jonas "bsl" Alsaker Vikan. The team is historically significant as one of the first truly international professional esports rosters, combining players from Europe (Norway, Denmark) and North America (Canada, United States). At various points in its history, the team was regarded as the world's best.
History
NoA was formed with the initial goal of winning CPL Winter 2003, where they placed 2nd, losing to Team SK in the grand finals. In 2004, the team made history by becoming the first esports team to pay for a player transfer out of a contract, buying Ola "elemeNt" Moum from SK Gaming. Later that year, they became the first team ever to win a CPL tournament after coming from the lower bracket, defeating EYEballers at CPL Winter 2004.
In February 2005, NoA traveled to Korea for the inaugural World e-Sports Games (WEG) and won the grand finals against 4kings. Following internal roster changes, including the departure of key players shaGuar and method to Team 3D, the team underwent several reorganizations.
In 2006, a largely Danish roster emerged, and by 2007 the organization became fully Danish after Martin "guddo" Cording acquired the team from BrandTheGame. That same year, Team NoA merged with the mortal Team work (mTw) organization. The mTw.dk division dominated Counter-Strike in 2008, winning KODE5 Global Finals, Intel Extreme Masters Continental Finals, and the World Cyber Games 2008, earning the "eSports Team of the Year" award. The team was terminated in November 2011.
Key Achievements
- 1st — Cyberathlete Professional League Winter 2004
- 1st — World eSport Games 2005
- 1st — Intel Extreme Masters Season II (2008)
- 1st — World Cyber Games 2008
- 2nd — Cyberathlete Professional League Winter 2003
- 2nd — Electronic Sports World Cup 2007
- 2nd — World Cyber Games 2007
Notable Players
| Generation | Players |
|---|---|
| 1st (Founding) | Jonas "bsl" Alsaker Vikan, Lars "Naikon" Olaisen, Hallvar "knoxville" Dehli, Griffin "shaGuar" Benger, Michael "method" So |
| 2nd | Ola "elemeNt" Moum, Lars "Naikon" Olaisen, Jørgen "XeqtR" Johannessen, Griffin "shaGuar" Benger, Michael "method" So |
| Final (Danish) | Muhamed "mJe" Eid, Danny "zonic" Sørensen, Christoffer "Sunde" Sunde, Brian "hpx" Christensen, Alexander "ave" Holdt |
Sponsors
Notable sponsors included Shuttle, AMD, and SteelSeries, reflecting the team's prominence during the early era of competitive esports.
