Update (Nov 8th):
Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP) has announced that the former Giants Gaming Spain players Álvaro "baroz" Valero and David "p0Lo" Gómez Urrea have been drafted in as replacements for João "Kamikaze" Gomes and Julio "JULIO" Giacomelli, after the latter two were denied visas to Japan.
The move comes as a surprise to many, with a few having expected Yudai "Wokka" Ichise to fill in instead.
P0Lo at the Spanish Nationals Season 1 Finals
Both p0Lo and baroz last played in the Pro League back in Year 2, with p0Lo having played for Barrage in Season 4 and gBots in the Season 5 relegations, and baroz having played for gBots in Season 4 and 5. What's more, p0Lo suffered the ingominy of being the first player (of a total two) to get relegated two seasons in a row.
Of the two Spaniards, only baroz has previously been at a Pro League Finals, having finished joint-third in Season 4. Both, however, have been to many other LAN events since, such as the ESL Masters Spain Season 1 (where p0Lo's team beat baroz's), DreamHack Valencia 2019, and then together again on Giants Gaming Spain at the Spain Nationals Season 1.
While the two are not native Portuguese speakers, the some amount of overlap between Spanish and Portuguese, likely enabling the duo to at least understand basic callouts and operate at a level that would not totally cripple Ninjas in Pyjamas. Furthermore, the two are active Rainbow Six players -- even if not at the top-level -- and were at the Spanish Nationals Final last month, unlike the FaZe Clan replacement for Ronaldo "ion" Osawa, Nino "ninexT" Pavolini, who last played competitive Rainbow Six a year ago.
Baroz at the Spanish Nationals Season 1 Finals
Another possibility is that NiP will be leaving the Spanish duo on the roam, thereby allowing the two to communicate in Spanish during tense moments if needed and generally not need the aid of the other three players, but one can only speculate as to the shift in play style that will be forthcoming.
Interestingly enough, FaZe Clan's Rafael "mav" Freitas had hinted at an attempt to use Wokka as a stand-in for ion, but the move had been blocked as Wokka was still a registered substitute for NORA-Rengo. Nevertheless, it is interesting to see the two Spanish players of baroz and p0Lo allowed to play for a Latin American team, and with Team Reciprocity now the favourites, all the pressure is now on the North Americans to close out a win against an NiP with nothing to lose.
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Original Article:
After fellow Brazilian team FaZe Clan's Ronaldo "ion" Osawa had failed to secure a visa to Japan for the Season 10 Pro League Finals, Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP) team manager Andres "Bob" Cardoso announced on Twitter that their team would also be hit with visa issues, with João "Kamikaze" Gomes, Julio "JULIO" Giacomelli, and coach Arthur "Ar7thur" Schubert all denied visas.
However, it seems that there is still hope for NiP. Bob tweeted afterwards that there was still one last chance available to secure a visa for Kamikaze and JULIO, with the players needing to travel to the Japanese consulate in Curitiba, leading to some optimism from the NiP manager despite the grim situation. However, Ar7hur will be unable to follow them for reasons not yet revealed. If approved, the visas will be ready by Wednesday, leaving the players with about two days to make it to Japan.
This news comes after Bob had revealed on the 25th of October that ESL had initially been in charge of securing visas for the teams, with FaZe Clan's players and DarkZero's coach corroborating the claim. However, at the eleventh hour, ESL had seemingly left the teams themselves in charge of obtaining the visas, though the specifics of that situation are still unclear, with the very real possibility of the Japanese office having informed ESL of the rejection that late. Despite the massive uncertainty, though, Bob and NiP fans apparently had a ray of light when the Team oNe owner had passed Bob a contact to help expedite the visa process, and Bob had said -- perhaps hopefully -- that the team would secure visas in a few days.
The applications had apparently been filled out by Bob on the 30th of October, with the results expected two days later, but on the 2nd of November, he had revealed that the team would only know if their visas had been approved on the 4th of November, the day the team was scheduled to fly to Nagoya. Now, it has now been revealed that all three of JULIO, Kamikaze, and Ar7hur will be unable to make it to Japan.
With two key players and their coach potentially out of the picture, it is possible that the NiP substitute Guilherme "gohaN" Alf will be drafted in, although it is unclear if he already has his visa, and if not, if he will even be able to secure it after this triple-failure. NiP will still have to find another player, however, such as how FaZe had to call on retired Rainbow Six pro and current Apex pro Nino "ninexT" Pavolini.
Understandably, Bob was incredibly frustrated, taking to Twitter in a now-deleted tweet to express his anger after internal channels to ESL had apparently failed to respond.
The now-deleted tweet asking ESL to respond (Image: Retalha)
NiP's first opponent, Team Reciprocity, will undoubtedly receive a huge boost with this news, with the Brazilian roster effectively gutted on their way to Japan. After a searing run in the Latin American Pro League, NiP was looking to be a fearsome threat -- one that was likely favoured over the North Americans -- but the visa situation has now potentially swung the pendulum firmly in Reciprocity's favour.
With FaZe considering a lawsuit against ESL for their apparent mishandling of the situation, it is unclear as to what exactly the ramifications of this debacle will be, but it is certain that much of the wind has been taken out of the sails of the Season 10 Pro League Finals before they have even begun.
ver, Ar7hur will be unable to follow them for reasons not yet revealed. If approved, the visas will be ready by Wednesday, leaving the players with about two days to make it to Japan.
This news comes after Bob had revealed on the 25th of October that ESL had initially been in charge of securing visas for the teams, with FaZe Clan's players and DarkZero's coach corroborating the claim. However, at the eleventh hour, ESL had seemingly left the teams themselves in charge of obtaining the visas, though the specifics of that situation are still unclear, with the very real possibility of the Japanese office having informed ESL of the rejection that late. Despite the massive uncertainty, though, Bob and NiP fans apparently had a ray of light when the Team oNe owner had passed Bob a contact to help expedite the visa process, and Bob had said -- perhaps hopefully -- that the team would secure visas in a few days.
The applications had apparently been filled out by Bob on the 30th of October, with the results expected two days later, but on the 2nd of November, he had revealed that the team would only know if their visas had been approved on the 4th of November, the day the team was scheduled to fly to Nagoya. Now, it has now been revealed that all three of JULIO, Kamikaze, and Ar7hur will be unable to make it to Japan.
With two key players and their coach potentially out of the picture, it is possible that the NiP substitute Guilherme "gohaN" Alf will be drafted in, although it is unclear if he already has his visa, and if not, if he will even be able to secure it after this triple-failure. NiP will still have to find another player, however, such as how FaZe had to call on retired Rainbow Six pro and current Apex pro Nino "ninexT" Pavolini.
Understandably, Bob was incredibly frustrated, taking to Twitter in a now-deleted tweet to express his anger after internal channels to ESL had apparently failed to respond.
The now-deleted tweet asking ESL to respond (Image: Retalha)
NiP's first opponent, Team Reciprocity, will undoubtedly receive a huge boost with this news, with the Brazilian roster effectively gutted on their way to Japan. After a searing run in the Latin American Pro League, NiP was looking to be a fearsome threat -- one that was likely favoured over the North Americans -- but the visa situation has now potentially swung the pendulum firmly in Reciprocity's favour.
With FaZe considering a lawsuit against ESL for their apparent mishandling of the situation, it is unclear as to what exactly the ramifications of this debacle will be, but it is certain that much of the wind has been taken out of the sails of the Season 10 Pro League Finals before they have even begun.