Ninjas in Pyjamas announced Wednesday its return to Dota 2, picking up an unsigned roster registered to compete for the coming Kiev Major. Former NiP player Adrian "Era" Kryeziu is joined by Max "qojqva" Bröcker, Kalle "Trixi" Saarinen, Kai "H4nni" Handbückers and Troels "syndereN" Nielsen on the new Ninjas lineup.
The unsigned roster was formed by Nielsen, Kryeziu and Bröcker after the dissolution of their former squad, Escape Gaming. Joined by Saarinen, who subbed in for the team after the departure of offlaner Maurice "Khezu" Gutmann, the new lineup for Ninjas has some familiarity with each other.
This is NiP's return to Dota after a short run in 2015, in which the team failed to qualify for both The International 5 and the Frankfurt Major. In the official roster announcement, team captain Nielsen noted the prestige of playing under the Ninjas banner in other esports such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. NiP CS:GO recently took first at IEM Oakland in November and is currently competing in the ELeague Major.
"Playing with such a name is a great opportunity, but also a responsibility," said Nielsen. "It comes with high expectations and therefore I'm happy to have formed a team of such experienced and proven players with great synergy to deliver."
Ninjas in Pyjamas Dota 2 recently competed in the StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 3 European Qualifiers, under the name "January 25th" in reference to the coming announcement of the roster's signing. The team lost to Vega Squadron 2-1 in the Phase 2 quarterfinals.