Official: draken joins fnatic

fnatic have completed the signing of Ninjas in Pyjamas backup player William "⁠draken⁠" Sundin, the two organisations have confirmed.

The Swedish AWPer will step into the shoes of Maikil "⁠Golden⁠" Selim, who has been ousted from the team less than a month after switching roles from in-game leader to entry fragger following Richard "⁠Xizt⁠" Landström's arrival.

With the 24-year-old in his new role and Xizt calling the shots, fnatic attended the ECS Season 5 Finals, in London, where they were sent packing in the group stage following two defeats to Liquid.

draken had been weighing up his options after being removed from Ninjas in Pyjamas's starting line-up to make room for Jonas "⁠Lekr0⁠" Olofsson. During his 15-month spell with the Ninjas, the former Epsilon player helped the team to win DreamHack Open Valencia 2017 and IEM Oakland.

Xizt will be hoping to bring the best out of draken once again after working with the AWPer between March 2017 and February 2018, when he was replaced by Dennis "⁠dennis⁠" Edman on Ninjas in Pyjamas's active roster.

In an interview with HLTV.org at the ECS Season 5 Finals, the fnatic in-game leader revealed that the team were struggling with the sniper role as Jesper "⁠JW⁠" Wecksell "does not want to main AWP all the time".

“I am incredibly proud and happy to be joining Fnatic," draken told fnatic's website . "I not only look forward to playing with Xizt again - who has proven he can be one of the very best IGLs - but also to playing beside the legends, Krimz, Flusha and JW!

"I have had a fantastic time with NiP during which I have learnt an incredible amount and developed personally. But, now, a new chapter begins."

According to fnatic, Golden has been moved to a substitute role as the organisation explores options for the player, who plans to continue his career elsewhere.

I will forever be grateful for the opportunities I’ve been given and, of course, I give a big thank you to the management and the players at Fnatic," Golden said.

"My ambition and goals remain high. Changes like these can be dispiriting, especially as this is a first for me, but I’m highly motivated to continue playing at a high level.

"I see this now as an opportunity to grow as a player and a leader, as I believe I have a lot more to show. I need to take the experience I gained into the right direction for a future home to represent."

The new fnatic roster will make its first appearance at ESL One Cologne, from July 3-8, where 16 teams will duke it out for $300,000 in prizes.

With draken's addition, fnatic now have:

Robin "⁠flusha⁠" Rönnquist
Jesper "⁠JW⁠" Wecksell
Freddy "⁠KRIMZ⁠" Johansson
Richard "⁠Xizt⁠" Landström
William "⁠draken⁠" Sundin

Maikil "⁠Golden⁠" Selim (backup)

Jimmy "⁠Jumpy⁠" Berndtsson (coach)