Brollan Joins Ninjas in Pyjamas

Former Fnatic player Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin has been announced as the newest member of Ninjas in Pyjamas who signed the 19-year-old CS:GO star on Tuesday, March 23. The move confirms rumors of Brollan joining NiP that have been going around for the last month.

The long-rumored change that was first revealed in late February has finally been confirmed on Tuesday when NiP signed Brollan from Fnatic. As initially reported, the Swedish esports organization lined up a $600,000 bid for the 19-year-old, and it seems like the money was too good for Fnatic to let this opportunity go.

Brollan now joins an all-Swedish roster, which is currently competing at the ESL Pro League Season 15. NiP has already advanced into the playoffs at the said tournament, as the top-seeded team from Group A.

However, it is unlikely for Brollan to be able to join the team on the stage. That is due to the transfer regulations that are in place for the tournament, prohibiting the teams from changing the roster they had submitted before the event.

The only exception are emergency situations such as a player not being able to play due to COVID.

But while Brollan won’t be able to play at ESL Pro League S15, he is guaranteed a spot in the team. As announced, NiP plans to play with the latest addition in the upcoming Major cycle, starting with the RMR tournament next month.

The Swedes have been placed in Group B of the European PGL Major Antwerp, slated for April 21-24. The same group will also feature the likes of G2 Esports, Gambit Esports, Entropiq, Copenhagen Flames, ENCE, and Team Spirit.

Even though NiP have noted that they plan to compete with Brolla, it’s unclear what roster will be used in the upcoming tournament. Since NiP already fields a five-man roster, one of the currently active players will have to step down to make room for the 19-year-old CS:GO player.

Current rumors suggest that it could be either Nicolas “Plopski” Gonzalez Zamora or Love “phzy” Smidebrant to make room for Brollan.

“We’ve been looking at Brollan for years now — every serious team has,” said Jonas Gundersen, COO at NIP.

“In my mind, it hasn’t been a question of whether he would join, but when, and I think he’s chosen a fantastic time.”

Brollan commented on his arrival at NiP, stating he is very excited for this step of his career. Moreover, joining NiP sees him reunite with some of the players who he had played with before.

That includes Hampus “hampus” Poser and plopski, who he played alongside in the former GODSENT roster and Red Reserve.

The addition of Brollan to NiP marks one of the most noteworthy roster changes of 2022. However, this is not the only high-profile roster move NiP have made across the last year.

In the span of the last 12 months, Ninjas in Pyjamas already signed Patrick “es3tag” Hansen and Nicolai “device” Reedtz in November and April, respectively. Over that stretch, NiP went through many changes, fielding various rosters.

Most notably, NiP continuously utilized members of the academy lineup, including Erik “ztr” Gustafsson and Linus “LNZ” Holtäng, who both got called up to play with the main lineup. Most recently, NiP also promoted phzy, who has been standing in for dev1ce who took medical leave at the start of the year.

Going forward, NiP will compete with a six-man lineup, and change up the starting roster as they see fit. It has yet to be announced when we will get to see Brolan debut in his new team, but it seems like the European PGL Major Antwerp qualifiers could be the place for him to do it.