Former NiP player Pyth is latest CSGO pro to switch to Valorant

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Jacob “pyth” Mourujärvi has announced his retirement from the game, and confirmed plans to pursue a career in Valorant. 

In a TwitLonger post, pyth stated that Valorant has reinvigorated his competitive spirit. He also reflected on the impact Counter-Strike has had on his life and paid homage to his former Ninjas in Pyjamas teammates. 

Pyth thus joins an ever-growing list of former CS players that have made the switch to Valorant. The list also includes former Complexity Gaming member Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan, iBUYPOWER star Braxton “Swag” Pierce, and ELEAGUE Boston Major winner Tyler “Skadoodle” Latham. 

The Swede’s tenure in CSGO will be remembered for his 18-month stint with NiP and his incredible prowess with the Deagle. His tenure with NiP was largely a successful one, with the team winning numerous events including IEM Oakland 2016, DreamHack Masters Malmö 2016, and the StarLadder i-League Season 2. 

After parting ways with NiP, pyth struggled to match his past successes and slowly faded from the limelight of the competitive CSGO scene during his stints with Digital Chaos and Vexed Gaming.

The growth of Valorant has been explosive. Riot Games’ first-person shooter has taken the gaming world by storm and has snatched up a number of popular stars from other major esports titles. In addition to pros from CSGO, players from Overwatch, Fortnite, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, and Apex Legends are all making the switch.

But with the game still in its early stages, the professional scene still virtually non-existent, and the level of competition growing by each minute, some might ask, are the pastures really bound to be greener with Riot’s new FPS?

Riot has stated that it will sit back and allow other tournament organizers to flesh out the professional scene for the immediate future. If it proves successful, odds are that the publisher will step in and implement a franchise system similar to that seen in its other game, League of Legends.