NIP set sights on headtr1ck – Report

Ninjas in Pyjamas are interested in signing former NAVI Junior AWPer Daniil “⁠headtr1ck⁠” Valitov, Dexerto’s Luís Mira says and HLTV can confirm.

According to HLTV’s latest information, the decision has already been made and the move only hinges on the finalization of the Ukrainian youngster’s transfer from Natus Vincere. Other AWPers were in consideration and with whom talks were held, including Copenhagen Flames‘ Iulian “⁠regali⁠” Harjău.

The possibility of a deal for the Ukrainian AWPer being close to fruition is further supported by Ninjas in Pyjamas‘s announcement of the removal of Patrick “⁠es3tag⁠” Hansen from the starting roster. The Dane was benched on Wednesday and allowed to explore options.

Ninjas in Pyjamas‘s decision to bring in a new primary AWPer follows their long ongoing struggles with the role in the aftermath of Nicolai “⁠device⁠” Reedtz‘s decision to step down from the starting roster in late 2021. It was most recently filled by Fredrik “⁠REZ⁠” Sterner, who took up the position in a primary capacity for the first time in his career and has been under heavy scrutiny by pundits ever since. es3tag fulfilled the role before that, taking over the sniping duties after Love “⁠phzy⁠” Smidebrant returned to the Young Ninjas academy team.

18-year-old headtr1ck is currently tied to NAVI, having plied his trade for the organization for the past two years as part of their academy project, first as a member of NAVI Youth and later playing with NAVI Junior.

He was transfer-listed in September after two brief stand-in stints with the main team, at ESL Pro League Season 15 and at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups, where he averaged a 0.97 rating over six maps and a 1.12 rating over four maps, respectively.

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B1ad3: “I think headtr1ck is not ready to play versus tier one comfortably enough”

In an interview with HLTV at the Fall Groups in August, Natus Vincere‘s coach Andrey “⁠B1ad3⁠” Gorodenskiy spoke about the young prospect after seeing him play with the team, saying headtr1ck is “not ready to play versus tier one comfortably enough” and noted his lack of experience and understanding of macro as two key reasons.

Should the deal come to fruition, Ninjas in Pyjamas‘s roster would be the following:

Fredrik “⁠REZ⁠” Sterner
Hampus “⁠hampus⁠” Poser
Ludvig “⁠Brollan⁠” Brolin
Aleksi “⁠Aleksib⁠” Virolainen
Daniil “⁠headtr1ck⁠” Valitov

Daniel “⁠djL⁠” Narancic (coach)