Ninjas in Pyjamas have announced that they will be using Cloud9 in-game leader Maikil ‘Golden’ Kunda Selim as a stand-in for the StarLadder Berlin Major.
The announcement comes shortly after Ninjas in Pyjamas made a roster move, replacing ‘Dennis’ with young talent Nicolas ‘Plopski’ Gonzalez Zamora.
Unfortunately for NiP, due to Valve’s rules about roster changes during the Major cycle, Plopski cannot compete for them at the upcoming StarLadder Berlin Major, having qualified for the European Minor with Team Ancient.
In his place, the Ninjas have announced on Twitter that they have loaned Golden from Cloud9 to use as a stand-in for the event.
As @PlopskiCSGO is unable to attend the upcoming Berlin Major with us due to Valve rules, Cloud9 has agreed to lend us @goldenmajk as a temporary stand-in to complete the line-up in Berlin.
Thank you @JackEtienne and @Cloud9 for the help.#GONINJAS #CSGO pic.twitter.com/sFAIGGBw99
— NiP :flag-se: @ EPICENTER MAJOR :ru: (@NiPGaming) June 25, 2019
Golden himself competed in the online closed qualifier for the Americas Minor with Cloud9, but the team were eliminated after two disastrous upsets in the first rounds of the double elimination bracket.
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Though Cloud9 will not be competing at the Major anyway, the announcement also comes as Golden’s time with the North American organization might already be at an end, with reports suggesting that the team are pursuing former NRG in-game leader Damian ‘daps’ Steele to lead the team going forward.
The StarLadder Berlin Major is set to take place from August 23 to September 8, with Ninjas in Pyjamas entering at the Legends stage, beginning August 28, due to their top-eight finish at the previous Major, IEM Katowice.
The announcement comes at a turbulent time for the NiP roster. Not only have they replaced Dennis with Plopski, but the team also revealed that they will be looking for a long-term replacement Counter-Strike legend and NiP icon Christopher ‘GeT_RiGhT’ Alesund.
GeT_RiGhT is due to compete with the team at ESL One Cologne, on July 2-7, and the StarLadder Berlin Major, but after that it seems his time as a player for NiP could be at an end. GeT_RiGhT himself stated that at this time, nothing has been decided regarding his future beyond the Major.
NiP’s roster for the StarLadder Berlin Major:
- Patrik ‘f0rest’ Lindberg
- Christopher ‘GeT_RiGhT’ Alesund
- Fredrik ‘REZ’ Sterner
- Jonas ‘Lekr0’ Olofsson
- Maikil ‘Golden’ Kunda Selim