by European esports outfit Ninjas in Pyjamas have announced the completion of their roster with the Ukrainian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player, Danyyl “headtr1ck” Valitov.
NiP have had their eyes on headtr1ck event since they benched their Danish sniper Patrick “es3tag” Hansen on December 21, 2022, when the CS:GO season came to an end. During this week of es3tag movement from the main roster, the team has been utilizing the 24-year-old Swedish AWper Fredrik “REZ” Sterner. However, he was not performing in the capacity the team envisioned, hence their immediate search for a replacement, which headtr1ck now fills.
According to the COO of NiP headtr1ck, is a perfect fit for the team’s missing piece. And the team is delighted with the success of his acquisition and looks forward to have a progressive run with him.
“Danyyl is an exceptionally promising young AWP talent that we’re incredibly happy to have onboard,” Gundersen said in a statement. “He’s a great fit to our whole organization, and we’re very happy to add him to our lineup. 2023 and beyond is looking promising!”
This will be the first time headtr1ck will be signed to a pro roster. Ever since he launched his CS:GO career in 2020, the Ukrainian AWper has only played on academy rosters such as the NAVI Junior. However, one time he substituted the CS:GO prodigy Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev on their main roster at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups. The Ukrainian also served in both capacities as a rifler and an AWper in his previous role, making him efficient and versatile in his game play. Last year, he garnered a wholesome 1.27 rating while representing NAVI Junior.
Some of headtr1ck’s best events on the NAVI Academy roster include Season 2 of the WePlay Academy League in 2021, where the team had a second-place finish. More recently, at the 2022 Season 6 WePlay Academy League, the team came in at the top spot and finished in third place. And at his first event with the pro roster, the team garnered a first-third place finish at the 2022 BLAST Premier Fall Groups.
Headtr1ck will now be joining a number of terrific CS:GO players on the NiP roster, which includes the 24-year-old rifler Hampus “hampus” Poser, Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin, the Finnish in-game leader Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen, REZ, and their 28-year-old coach Daniel “djL” Narancic.
The new AWper will be making his debut appearance with NiP at BLAST Premier Spring Groups in Copenhagen. The group has been paired with BIG and the two World Finals champions, G2 Esports and Natus Vincere, in Group C.
“Well, we can finally say that we have an AWP. For real. Happy New Year to us!” The team wrote.
“Headtr1ck is one of the hottest young guns coming out of the academy and we are looking forward to his first tournament as a Ninja at BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2023 in Copenhagen.”
