NiP Valorant Team Benches Hyp & Fearoth Following Sayf Arrival

In what is their second shakeup since entering the professional Valorant scene, Ninjas in Pyjamas have signed former CS:GO favourite Saif “Sayf” Jibreel, meaning that both Damien “Hyp” Souville and Enzo “Fearoth” Mestari have been bench, despite having only joined back in July. Sayf himself was part of the Bonk team which defeated NiP at the LVL Clash Two event just last month, with the Swede and his teammates eventually losing out to G2 esports in the Finals.

NiP’s Valorant Head Coach Emil “eMIL” Sandgren was clearly delighted at the arrival of Sayf, describing him as “one of the best VALORANT players already”, with the duo having got to know each other well during their time together at Bonk. Sayf will replace Hyp and Fearoth, with the duo having failed to live up to expectations alongside Charles “CREA” Beauvois. The trio failed to win a single match at the BLAST Twitch Invitational, losing to both G2 and Team Liquid.

Why NiP Has Made Further Roster Changes

Having his say on the matter, NiP Chief Operator Office Jonas Gunderson admitted that “The competitive scene has progressed rapidly over the past months and we have to conclude that we’ve fallen further behind.” However, with Sayf now on their roster and EMIL as coach, things could turn around for NiP.

As for Fearoth, the French former CS:GO pro did not hide his disappointment at being benched, as well as how NiP handled the matter. Taking to Twitter, Fearoth stated that: “During these 2 months, I have always received praise from NiP and the coach since his arrival for my work and the added value I brought to the team.

You can’t imagine the frustration and the feeling of injustice I feel when the entire professional environment in which you work leads you to believe that everything is going well, congratulates you on your work and then, overnight, you are dismissed because a choice had to be made. I’m just disappointed that there was no dialogue between the players and NiP’s coaching staff / management to explore the options and for the future of the team.”

When Can We Expect to See Sayd in Action?

NiP will undoubtedly be hoping for a change in fortune following yet further roster changes, with the team having released their entire roster back in June. NiP did win the Paladins World Championship in 2019 earlier this year, however there has been little to shout about since then. It remains to be seen as to when Sayf will play for NiP for the first time, while the team must also find another play to complete their lineup for when matches are scheduled.