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Ninjas in Pajamas CEO Jonas Gundersen said the change was a result of traces of low productivity within the team. The new player was expected to bring new energy to improve the team’s form.
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“When there’s signs of stagnation, new energy might be needed to keep progressing, and we think the timing is right to make a larger change than usual; bringing on Aleksib as IGL and moving our communication to English,” Gundersen wrote.
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Gundersen went on to reveal that Plopski was benched by the team and available for transfer requests. He also thanked the player for his hard work in the squad for the past three years.
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“Under the leadership of djL, we’re excited to see how this new constellation will evolve with new roles and ideas and will continue our quest towards growing into a championship contending team,” Gundersen concluded.
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The Finnish player, Aleksib is the third nationality to be added to the team and will facilitate the move to English in terms of in-game communication. The team was previously an all-Swedish lineup until signing on Patrick “es3tag” Hansen, their Danish AWPer, and then Aleksib.

Swedish-Spanish player Nicolas “?Plopski?” Gonzalez Zamora, who had played with the team since August 2019, was benched to make room for the new player.
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NiP also signed Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin, the previous Fnatic prodigy, a few months ago. The entire lineup now consists of Aleksib, Brollan, es3tag, and long-time players Fredrik “RES” Sterner and Hampus “hampus” Poser.
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Daniel “?djL?” Narancic is the team’s coach, while Nicolai “?device?” Reedtz, NiP’s superstar player, is currently inactive. The player joined the team in April 2021, but has stayed inactive from the start of 2022. Aleksib will take over the in-game leader duties from hampus.
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The 25-year-old was previously signed on to the G2 roster at the start of 2022 after playing with OG and ENCE. Despite giving a stellar performance in ENCE during his 2019 stint with them, Aleksib was unable to produce similar results while in G2.
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The former G2 player was allowed to explore his options in mid-July, towards the start of the summer break. Aleksib was eventually benched by G2 a month later when the team wanted to create a spot for Rasmus “?HooXi?” Nielsen.
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The new IGL signing was made ahead of the fast-approaching IEM Road to Rio European Regional Major Ranking (RMR) event. There, Ninjas in Pyjamas will play against other teams to secure a spot in the IEM Rio Major.
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The esports tournament will signal Aleksib’s debut under the NiP flag and will kick off on October 4 and run until October 9, in Malta. The team was placed in the same group as G2, Cloud9, FaZe, and Astralis.

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Jonas Gundersen, a former Counter-Strike 1.6 professional player and the current Ninjas in Pyjamas’ COO, made the announcement in a Twitter post on Thursday, February 20, calling out for a LoL head coach prospect to join the Swedish esports organisation on their voyage.

“We’re exploring an entry into LoL with Ninjas in Pyjamas, and I am looking for the most passionate & hungry Head Coach prospect, to help build something amazing with us,” said Gundersen.

If their plans come to fruition, this would be Ninjas in Pyjamas’ third entry into LoL professional scene.

Their first LoL team was formed back in May 2013, when NiP acquired the former Copenhagen Wolves roster. That quintent featured several players that would go on to become iconic figures in the LoL esports scene, including Riot Games caster and current Origen general manager Martin “Deficio” Lynge, Team SoloMid captain and co-owner S?ren “Bjergsen” Bjerg, and 2019 LCS Summer Split MVP and Evil Genuises jungler Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen.

Their first stint started to crumble in May 2014 following numerous roster changes and Deficio’s retirement. Although Ninjas in Pyjamas did their best to rebuild the team, they eventually gave up and disbanded the roster in September the same year.

Almost three years later in May 2017, Ninjas in Pyjamas took another swing when they acquired Fnatic Academy’s European LoL Championship Series (EU LCS) spot and signed a new line-up consisting of Kim “Profit” Jun-hyung, Ilyas “Shook” Hartsema, Kim “Nagne” Sang-moon, Martin “HeaQ” Kordmaa, Benjamin “Zhergoth” Sánchez and Benjamin “Zhergoth” Sánchez.

Their return to the Rift, however, did not bear any fruits. Ninjas in Pyjamas finished last in their group and were relegated out of the EU LCS, forcing them to spend 2018 competing in local Nordic leagues and European Masters (EM) events. Although they managed to pocket a silver medal at EM Summer 2018, NiP disbanded their roster on October 4, 2018.

Now, the Swedes are set to embark on yet another LoL journey, although their return to the Summoner’s Rift is still in the early planning phase and any information about their plans is very scarce.

If they are hoping to enter one of the major regions straight away, Ninjas in Pyjamas will have to follow in the footsteps of Evil Geniuses or Dignitas and splash the cash to buy a licence from one of the existing top-flight teams.

Evil Geniuses splashed out US $33 million for their entry into LCS, while Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE), the owners of Dignitas and the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, bought out the majority stake of Clutch Gaming for $20 million.

While a place in the LoL European Championship (LEC) should come at a cheaper price compared to the LCS, which draws in more viewership, it will still cost Ninjas in Pyjamas a hefty chunk of change should they look to re-launch their LoL team at the highest tier.

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