REJECT today announced the signing of former Nora-Rengo star player Toya "Papilia" Miyazawa and Team Northeption player "CoPaHiPo".
This comes after REJECT were set to part ways with Ryota "Window" Hirata per an announcement on Nov. 1 and also transferred Kyohei "Take" Koyama to Japan League team ENTER FORCE.36 today. Both players had SiegeGG Ratings of 1.08 in Stage 3 in APAC North, with near-identical K-D and Entry figures.
However, REJECT's press release today indicated that Window will remain a part of their setup and that the team will sport a six-man roster.
Papilia was part of the Nora-Rengo teams that were semi-finalists at the Six Invitational 2019, where they lost to Team Empire, and at the ESL Pro League Season 8 Finals, where they lost to FaZe Clan.
CoPaHiPo joins as an IGL from Japan Open side Team Northeption, who most recently qualified for and finished second in the Japan League Season 2 Playoff. There, he was the third-best player on his team by SiegeGG Rating of 1.07 and had a +15 K-D primarily on Dokkaebi and Azami. However, in the Season 1 Playoff, where his team failed to move onto Stage 2, he was the best on his team with a 1.22 SiegeGG Rating, +23 K-D and 79 percent KOST.
These moves mark a return to the top-flight for Papilia for the first time since Nora-Rengo lost its league license at the start of 2021, while CoPaHiPo will make his top-flight debut in 2023.
Papilia had left Nora-Rengo after the team failed to retain a place in APAC North and disbanded and had joined Lag Gaming immediately after in Feb. 2021. He remained with Lag Gaming until October this year, but now leaves them to return to an APAC North team.
During his time as a player in the second and third tier of Japanese competition, Papilia was also a commentator for the Japan League 2021.
The news comes two weeks after the conclusion of Stage 3 of the APAC North league, where REJECT finished in third place and missed out on the Jönköping Major, just one point behind second-placed SANDBOX Gaming.
The newly-promoted team suffered a greater disappointment domestically, though. It finished the Japan League 2022 in seventh place overall after eighth, fifth, and ninth placed finishes in each season this year.
Their Season 1 and 2 finishes saw them qualify to the Japan League playoffs anyway, but they were top eight and fourth in each respective season. As a result, REJECT also missed out on the US$103,000 Japan Invitational 2022, which also features DWG KIA and Team BDS.
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