Valorant: HyP parts ways with NiP ahead of First Strike tournament

The Valorant First Strike tournament is coming soon. Multiple regions will battle it out through qualifiers for a chance at their respective First Strike Finals. This is the time for teams to cement their Valorant rosters and get ready for Riot Games’ first internally organized competitive event.

As of today, I'm no longer under contract with NiP.I'm now Free Agent and looking for a new home !You can contact me at [email protected] or via DM

— HyP (@HyP_ow) October 20, 2020

One team making changes ahead of First Strike is Ninjas in Pyjamas. Having already made some large changes to the active Valorant roster, one benched player has officially announced that he is free agent. Damien “HyP” Souville has announced that he is no longer under contract with NiP, and is looking for a new home.

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HyP in Valorant

(Image Credit: Ninjas in Pyjamas)

HyP is a former Overwatch player who made the transition to Valorant like many other players. With his starter team HypHypHyp, he managed to take five first place finishes in a row. That got the attention of Ninjas in Pyjamas. Prior to that, Hyp saw various finishes in events, and was the target of some disrespect by Daniel ‘dafran’ Francesca.

The organization signed HyP and his teammates, Fearoth and CREA. After their signing, the NiP squad maintained a consistent 3rd-4th place finish across several events. Unfortunately, the organization did not see a future where those finishes could get higher.

Overall, I'm just a bit disappointed but I'm looking forward to see what the future holds for me. I'm confident in my abilities to stay at the top on Valorant and to join a new project and perform at the highest level. Thanks to everyone for your support, it means the world❤️

— HyP (@HyP_ow) September 17, 2020

HyP and Fearoth were both benched as NiP signed Saif “Sayf” Jibraeel and put Egor “chiwawa” Stepanyuk on trial. It has been over a month since HyP competed in anything other than a showmatch within Valorant. Now, he officially holds the title of Free Agent as Riot Games prepares for the Valorant First Strike tournament.

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First Strike tournament

First Strike was announced by Riot Games towards the end of September. Regional qualifiers are set to begin in the second half of October, which is right about now. The competitive rules have been released, as well as the participating regions. Multiple regions and finals will take place within North America, Europe, CIS, Turkey, Asia, Oceania, Brazil and the Middle East.

This is the first Valorant tournament produced by Riot Games directly, and is their first step in raising the competitive nature of the first-person shooter. The finals are scheduled to take place from December 3, 2020 to December 6, 2020. Riot has released new observer features and upgraded their anti-cheat system in order to make sure First Strike runs as smoothly as possible.