Ninjas in Pyjamas’ VALORANT squad has brought in a new in-game leader in Adam “ec1s” Eccles, the organization announced today.

The British captain will take the place of the veteran Kévin “Ex6TenZ” Droolans, who’s taking a break due to a period of injuries. He’ll be moved to the inactive roster, for now, to focus on his recovery. The Belgian, though, will be assisting NiP’s coach Emil “eMIL” Sandgreen while he’s not playing.

Ec1s was the captain of the fish123 roster that won some European tournaments in the early stages of competitive VALORANT and later signed with Team Liquid. He played for Liquid from August 2020 to February 2021 and most notably guided them to a runners-up finish at the Red Bull Home Ground event in January. Ec1s had been a free agent since May.

“It’s a great feeling and an honor to be joining NiP: an organization that I’ve watched since I was a little kid many years ago,” ec1s said on NiP’s official website. “Seeing their legendary CS:GO rosters winning events, I always aspired to get there one day. Our roster is bursting with talent, experience, and has the right mixture to be the best. Our upcoming bootcamp in Serbia is a great opportunity to meet everyone and kick start off our journey together! I’m pumped.”

EMIL, the head coach, is pleased that NiP signed ec1s and explained what makes him a great addition to the roster. “He’s ice-cold in all situations and a very good individually skilled IGL who merges with the guys effortlessly,” eMIL said. “It’s a tall task to take over as an IGL mid-tournament, but his calm nature is exactly what we need right now. What happened to Kevin is unfortunate, but I’m glad that he stays and works with me for the time being, making use of all the experience he possesses.”

NiP had a rough start to EU VCT Stage Three: Challengers One. They were eliminated after two losses to Alliance and Team Finest and didn’t make it to the main event. The organization used Ex6TenZ in those matches but also played with temporary substitute Benjamin “vicious” Guilotte in some maps instead of the Belgian captain.

NiP’s lineup for the EU VCT Stage Three: Challengers Two will be ec1s, Egor “chiwawa” Stepanyuk, Yaroslav “Jady” Nikolaev, Emir “rhyme” Muminovic, and Charles “CREA” Beauvois. They’ll have to do well to qualify for the Challengers Playoffs since there are only four spots left and superteams like Liquid and Fnatic also didn’t qualify in Challengers One.

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Source: https://dotesports.com/valorant/news/nip-signs-ec1s-to-its-valorant-team