SoNNeikO Was Allegedly Removed By NiP Without A Discussion With His Teammates
Ninjas in Pyjamas underwent a sudden roster change earlier on Tuesday, when captain Akbar "SoNNeikO" Butaev announced that he had parted ways with the team. Many players and casting talent from both the English and CIS scenes expressed their shock with NiP’s decision to remove SoNNeikO from their roster.
Fans were left wondering about why SoNNeikO was dropped from the NiP roster. Many speculated that SoNNeikO had left the team on his own accord while a few others stated that NiP kicked SoNNeikO.
However, statements from a few of the CIS Dota 2 personalities including V1lat and have given us more information about the situation.
Players and Analysts React to SoNNeikO Parting Ways With NiP
V1lat, CIS Dota 2 Personality
Russian Dota 2 commentator Vitalii Nikolaevich "v1lat" Volochai revealed that it was the NiP organization who made the decision to let SoNNeikO go. He stated:
“According to my information, the decision to remove SoNNeikO was taken by the club. It is not clear whether other players have anything to do with it.
Akbar (SoNNeikO) will come on my podcast and talk about this in detail, but only after the official statement is published (By NiP).”
Korb3n, Former Team Empire and HellRaisers manager
In a post on his VK page, Dmitry “Korb3n” Belov stated that the management of NiP removed SoNNeikO from the Dota 2 squad without even discussing it with the other players in the team.
“The NiP management removed SoNNeikO and the team manager (Curtis Coffin) from the Dota 2 roster. The players were not even asked about this. The new manager of the team is Bonkers, he was also the manager of OG.Seed.
For the captain’s slot, I’m expecting Peksu. But that’s not at all confirmed. ”
Like Korb3n stated, Curtis Coffin (ex-NiP manager) has posted on Twitter stating that he was looking for a new team, partially confirming his statement.
Era, Current NiP Player
Adrian "Era" Kryeziu paid tribute to SoNNeikO by stating that he was one of the best players, that he had ever played with.
CIS Dota 2 player Akbar "SoNNeikO" Butaev left the Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP) roster on July 7th, 2020. He was the team's captain. SoNNeikO revealed this on his Twitter account but did not disclose the reason for his departure.
With NiP before his departure, SoNNeikO performed reasonably well in a fairly stacked Europe/CIS region with multiple 5th-6th place finishes at the WePlay! Pushka League S1: Division 1, OGA Dota PIT 2020 Online: Europe/CIS, and BLAST Bounty Hunt.
The NiP organization is yet to make a statement regarding this matter.
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