NiP rounds out CS:GO lineup with former NAVI young star

Ninjas in Pyjamas has completed its CS:GO roster with the addition of Danyyl “headtr1ck” Valitov today, confirming multiple reports that emerged during the offseason.

The 18-year-old is another talent who comes from Natus Vincere’s academy setup, like b1t and M0NESY, and he’s been looking to join a tier-one organization since September 2022 after he stood in for NAVI’s main team at BLAST Premier Fall Groups. The Ukrainian organization agreed to negotiate with headtr1ck and sold him to NiP during the lead-up for 2023.

Headtr1ck played as a rifler and AWPer during his time with NAVI Junior and has arrived in NiP to become their primary sniper. The Ninjas had been using REZ as an AWPer in the last months of 2022, but that didn’t work the way REZ and the team wanted. The 18-year-old will effectively replace Patrick “es3tag” Hansen in the active lineup, who was benched in December 2022 to pave the way for a new player.

The former NAVI Junior player averaged a superb 1.27 rating throughout 2022, according to HLTV. He mostly played in editions of the WePlay Academy League but also did well at BLAST Premier Fall Groups when he temporarily replaced s1mple on the main squad, averaging a 1.12 rating against some of the best teams in the world, according to HLTV.

“Danyyl is an exceptionally promising young AWP talent that we’re incredibly happy to have onboard,” NiP’s COO Jonas 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!”

Headtr1ck will debut under the NiP banner at BLAST Premier Spring Groups this month. The Ninjas are in Group C alongside NAVI, G2, and BIG.