Ninjas in Pyjamas have unveiled their revamped roster, built around Danish veteran Marco "Snappi" Pfeiffer. To kick off this new chapter, Audric "JACKZ" Jug will step in temporarily to help the team meet Valve's eligibility requirements for Wildcard invites.
Snappi, a seasoned in-game leader, was instrumental in leading ENCE to the No. 2 spot in the global rankings in 2023. Known for his ability to develop young talent, he takes the reins of an exciting but relatively inexperienced lineup. The new roster retains just one player from 2024, Ukrainian AWPer Artem "r1nkle" Moroz.
The Swedish organization has secured several high-profile signings, starting with Rasmus "sjuush" Beck, who reunites with former HEROIC coach Richard "Xizt" Landström to serve as the team’s anchor. The roster is further strengthened by the arrival of SAW standouts Michel "ewjerkz" Pinto and Rafael "arrozdoce" Wing, who were part of the squad that reached the IEM Cologne semifinals in 2024.
This overhaul comes at the cost of Gareth "MisteM" Ries, the in-game leader and Young Ninjas graduate who has been benched. Despite the roster change, Esports Director Erik Wendel reiterated on January 3 that MisteM remains a vital part of NIP's future.
Meanwhile, Isak "isak" Fahlén and Fredrik "REZ" Sterner have found new homes with Metizport and GamerLegion, respectively.
With this being NiP’s second major rebuild in less than a year, the team will start the season with zero points on the Valve Global Standings. However, there is a route to tournament invitations through Wildcard slots. For this, teams must field at least three players who competed for a top-eight squad in the past year. While Snappi and sjuush meet the criteria, the rest of the lineup does not.
To bridge the gap, NiP has enlisted JACKZ, who qualifies due to his appearance at the BLAST World Final with Vitality. He will temporarily replace arrozdoce for the team's debut in CCT competitions. NiP stated that JACKZ's involvement will be for a "limited time," likely around the 10 matches required to earn Valve Standings eligibility.
With these changes, NiP’s roster is:
🇩🇰 Marco "Snappi" Pfeiffer
🇩🇰 Rasmus "sjuush" Beck
🇺🇦 Artem "r1nkle" Moroz
🇵🇹 Michel "ewjerkz" Pinto
🇵🇹 Rafael "arrozdoce" Wing
🇫🇷 Audric "JACKZ" Jug (Stand-in)
🇸🇪 Richard "Xizt" Landström (Coach)
🇿🇦 Gareth "MisteM" Ries (Inactive)
🇪🇸 Alejandro "alex" Masanet (Inactive)
🇸🇪 Max "maxster" Jansson (Inactive)
🇩🇰 Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke (Inactive)
The new lineup will debut on January 16 in the CCT Season 2 Europe Series 16 Closed Qualifier, where they will face AMKAL at 14:30 IST.
Comments