Ninja is one of the most popular gaming streamers to watch on Twitch. He currently streams Fortnite, VALORANT, and Among Us. He has over 16 million followers on Twitch and averages over 20K viewers per stream.
What gaming keyboard does Ninja use to dominate in all of his games?
Ninja currently uses the Ducky One 2 Mini RGB mechanical keyboard with most likely Cherry MX Red or Speed Silver switches, which is a compact 60% keyboard. He uses the stock keycaps with a red Enter key.
Let’s take a look at the exact details of the Ducky One 2 Mini and why Ninja would pick this as his main keyboard.
Ninja’s Keyboard: Inside Look at the Ducky One 2 Mini
In Ninja’s streams and Instagram posts in 2020, you will notice that he uses the Ducky One 2 Mini with RGB lighting in the background.
The Ducky One 2 Mini is a 60% compact mechanical keyboard. It first launched in 2018 and has been a popular mechanical keyboard for all uses, including gaming.
Why Choose the Ducky One 2 Mini for Gaming?
Gaming keyboards used to be extremely large and bulky. Often times, they took up way more space than they should’ve.
While Ninja used to use full-size mechanical keyboards such as the Corsair K70 RGB and tenkeyless boards such as the Logitech Orion G610, he switched to 60% recently.
This is most likely because he realized he wasn’t using any of those extra features such as the number pad, navigational keys, or even arrow keys.
Most of the time with the games that he plays, he has his fingers on the left side of the board on the WASD keys, spacebar, possible Tab, Ctrl, etc.
Although dedicated volume keys or additional onboard profiles may seem necessary, the only things that matter when gaming are the response time of the board, the comfort and ease of use, and preference to the user.
Because Ninja plays primarily FPS games, he needs much more space for his mouse for precise aiming and navigation around his enemies.
By using a smaller board, putting it off to the side, the mouse arm gets over 75% of the desk mat to glide over and aim properly.
If you’re playing primarily FPS games and using a full-sized board, maybe consider switching over to a smaller board. It will be easy to notice why compact boards are so advantageous, especially if you have a smaller desk to work with.
What Makes the Ducky One 2 Mini Special?
A full in-depth review of the Ducky One 2 Mini can be found here, but we will go over some of the more important features here.
The Ducky One 2 Mini, when it first came out, really stood out against its competitors. It had PBT keycaps, a detachable USB-C cable, programmable per-key RGB lighting, a custom spacebar, and extra accent-color keycaps.
PBT keycaps are oil-resistant, which means your keycaps won’t display that nasty shine over time. If you use the WASD keys a lot, you want PBT keycaps. If not, these keys will look pretty bad over time.
Having a detachable USB-C cable means you can use your own custom cables, replace the cable if it breaks, and it’s such a better way to connect. USB-C cables are more versatile, especially in 2020.
No other company has provided a special spacebar in the way that Ducky has. It changes every year to match the zodiac year that the board was created in.
You also get extra keycaps for Escape, Enter, Backspace, Shift, and Space in a random color. It could be red, yellow, green, purple, blue, or orange. Pretty neat, and a nice little surprise too.
The RGB can be programmed using keyboard combinations alone. You’ll have to read the manual for this, but it’s pretty easy once you get the hang of it. No software required.
The same goes for macro recording. Do it on the fly right on the board.
As you can see, the Ducky One 2 Mini is a super versatile and timeless classic. Alongside that, it looks really cool.
Even at a far away glance, you can tell it’s a Ducky One 2 Mini because of the two-toned color of the case (black and white).
Which Ducky One 2 Mini Switch is Best for Gaming?
The Ducky One 2 Mini has a bunch of switch options, it can get overwhelming and confusing really quickly.
The best switches are for gaming will most likely be linear switches. This article will talk about all of the best switches for gaming.
The Ducky One 2 Mini has the following switch options:
- Cherry Black
- Cherry Red
- Cherry Blue
- Cherry Brown
- Cherry Silver
- Gateron Yellow
- Gateron Red
- Gateron Brown
- Kailh Speed Pro Burgundy
- Kailh Speed Copper
- Kailh Box White
- Cherry Silent Red
- Cherry Silent Black
- Gateron Silent Brown
The best switch for gaming out of this list will be the linear ones with the shortest actuation distance, the distance you need to press before your PC registers it.
And that is Cherry MX Silver, Kailh Speed Pro Burgundy, and Kailh Speed Copper.
Cherry MX Silver is lightweight and is fast to actuate. It is our number 1 pick for a gaming switch.
Kailh Speed Pro Burgundy is a linear switch that is a little heavier but also actuates fast.
Kailh Speed Copper is a clicky switch that has a short actuation distance and also slightly heavier than Cherry Silver.
For additional reading on switches, we have the following switch guides:
- Cherry MX Switch Guide
- Gateron Switch Guide
- Kailh Switch Guide
- Best Switches for Gaming
- Are Silent Switches Worth It?
Switches can be confusing, but they make a huge difference between liking and hating your keyboard. Hopefully all of these guides and information here are helpful to you.
If you don’t really care about the feel or sound, and only care about gaming, then go ahead and pick out Cherry MX Speed Silver switches.
How to Game With No Function Row or Arrow Keys on the Ducky One 2 Mini
The Ducky One 2 Mini is a compact keyboard. This means that it cuts off the function row, arrow keys, navigational cluster, and number pad.
To use the function row, you need to hold the FN key and then press on of the numbers on the top row.
If you are gaming and need function keys, the best option is to remap the keys you need to your mouse OR to rebind them onto the number row.
To use the arrow keys, you hold FN and then IJKL (each letter corresponding to a different arrow key). This may be inconvenient because then you need two hands to use arrows.
Most likely, when gaming, your arrow key binds will be on WASD.
If you play a game that absolutely needs those keys often, then it’s best to go a size up such as a 75% keyboard or a tenkeyless layout instead. These have dedicated keys for the function row.
To check out some of our top 75% keyboard recommends, read this article. Or check out our top tenkeyless recommendations instead.
Both of these layouts have dedicated arrow keys and function row, but they’re also compact and great for gaming as well.
Conclusion
Ninja currently uses the Ducky One 2 Mini RGB mechanical keyboard. Most likely, he is using fast and responsive switches such as Cherry MX Red or Speed Silvers.
The Ducky One 2 Mini will be a timeless classic for quite a while. It is one of the best compact keyboards of its time. Nowadays, there are a lot more options to pick from. However, that doesn’t mean the Ducky One 2 Mini can’t compete.
To check out the Ducky One 2 Mini and all of its different switch and color options, check out the product here on MechanicalKeyboards.com.
Featured image credited to Ninja’s YouTube channel in this video.