Ninjas in Pyjamas made a quick pivot to try to stay competitive in the current Dota 2 competitive season, signing Chicken Fighters today following ppd’s sudden retirement earlier this week.
This move means that the remaining NiP Dota 2 players have all been released while SoNNeikO and his team join a top-tier organization to try to continue their hot streak heading into the WePlay! Pushka League.
Since the team was signed prior to the start of the Pushka League, Chicken Fighters will be able to immediately play in a big tournament under the NiP banner without the need to qualify again. To follow up their fourth-place finish at ESL One Los Angeles Online, they’ll once again be taking on the top European teams in a fight for $250,000.
“Chickens transformed into Ninjas,” SoNNeikO said. “After playing for months without an organization we are thrilled to have an experienced team of professionals backing us up and helping us become better and strive for greatness! I am happy to announce that we will be part of NiP.”
This also marks the return of the organization’s original Dota captain, Adrian “Era” Kryeziu, who rejoins NiP after three seasons. NiP’s new lineup includes Charlie “CharlieDota” Arat, Ondřej “Supream^” Štarha, Jonáš “SabeRLight-” Volek, Era, and SoNNeikO.
“It’s been an ongoing process finding the right way to structure the new team, evaluating and optimizing our own internal setup in the process,” NiP COO Jonas Gundersen said. “The whole roster of Chicken Fighters are a great group of young players, with a perfect combination of hunger, talent, experience and a high willingness to learn. I couldn’t be more excited that they want to become part of the Ninjas in Pyjamas team, where I am sure we’ll be able to accomplish great things together.”
Former NiP players Nikita “Daxak” Kuzmin, Jason “TANNER” Weedon, and Rodrigo “Lelis” Santos have also officially been released from the organization, while ESL One L.A. stand-ins Evgeniy “Blizzy” Ree and Milan “MiLAN” Kozomara remain free agents.
The new NiP roster will battle it out against OG.Seed on April 23 in the final series of the WePlay! Pushka League’s opening day.
