Ninjas in Pyjamas Reunites with Former Paladins Team to Compete in VALORANT
Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP) has announced that it is reuniting with its former Paladins team to compete in VALORANT.
The team consisting of Erik “Bird” Sjösten, Dylan “DiGeDoG” Chainski, KenLeander “Isbittenner” Aspestrand, Malkolm “Bonkar” Rench, and Alex Suchev were previously released by NiP in November 2019 after winning the Paladins World Championship. At the time, Bird was considering retiring from esports.
However, Bird will now take on the role of coach for his former teammates in VALORANT. NiP is currently in the process of finding a fifth player to complete the lineup.
Bird expressed his excitement about transitioning to VALORANT as a team, saying, “We are extremely excited for the chance to continue as a team in Riot’s new title VALORANT under the NiP banner. Our success in Paladins came from a team-first perspective, and we intend to keep it that way. We made the decision to transition to VALORANT as a team to maintain our synergy and focus on learning the game efficiently.
NiP’s COO, Jonas Gundersen, shared his excitement about the involvement of NiP in VALORANT, stating, “VALORANT is one of the most exciting titles in recent years, and we want to get heavily involved from the beginning.” Gundersen also expressed his joy in re-signing the old Paladins roster, highlighting their two-time World Championship wins, experience in MOBAs, and raw skill and chemistry as a team.
NiP’s choice to reunite with their former Paladins team makes sense as both Paladins and VALORANT are hero-based FPS games. However, VALORANT has the potential to be even more popular than Paladins, which could result in a higher skill ceiling.
VALORANT’s closed beta began recently, and the official launch is scheduled for this summer.
Ninjas in Pyjamas, Paladins, VALORANT, esports, team, coach, roster, Riot, champions, FPS games, closed beta.