The 18 years old Ukrainian is the option chosen to solve the problem in the AWPer position
Professional CSGO team Ninjas in Pyjamas (NIP) announced today that it acquired Danyyl "headtr1ck" Valitov from Natus Vincere Junior ahead of the upcoming 2023 season. The 18-year-old Ukrainian will replace Patrick "es3tag" Hansen, who was benched by NIP back in December.
The announcement of headtr1ck came minutes after NAVI said goodbye to him. In publications on social media, NIP joked around with the new hire. After all, the Ukrainian player will try to resolve a problem that followed NIP through all of 2022: the AWP sniper rifle.
headtr1ck performed well for NAVI Junior troughout the year and had an opportunity to substitute for Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev during BLAST Premier Fall Groups.
Another gem from NAVI
Being one of the most prominent organizations in the esports scene, NAVI not only has a Tier-1 team but also invests in academy players. Ninjas acquisition of headtr1ck was revealed after filling in the hole that Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov left in NAVI Junior when he was sold to G2.
Just like what happened with the Russian youngster, headtr1ck became one of the most promising names in the CS: GO academy scene. But, just like with m0NESY, he was putting in impressive performances in a position in which NAVI already has the best player in the world: s1mple.
Now, headtr1ck will have the challenge of stepping in into a team that desperately needs a high-level AWPer. Just to remind you that this organization already tried to solve this question in 2021 by hiring Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz.
Ninjas and headtr1ck: The solution to the AWP
NIP had a decent 2021 with dev1ce as the star player of the squad, mainly in the first semester. But, when the year was ending, the Danish AWPer revealed he was going through personal problems and would step down from the squad to take care of himself.
After that, they tried to solve the problem with a domestic player from Young Ninjas, but Love "phzy" Smidebrant didn't hold up to the expectations. So, the solution that NIP thought of was to bring Ludvig "Brollan" Brolin from Fnatic and put es3tag on the AWP, a position he had already played.
The year went on and NIP showcased a low level of gameplay, so they tried another solution. This time, they brought an IGL, Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen and Nicolas "Plopski" Gonzalez sat on the bench. But, the last straw was an awful performance from the squad at the IEM Rio Major, where they left the tournament without winning a single map. Now, headtr1ck appears as the solution.
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