Ewjerkz Expected to Leave Ninjas in Pyjamas Ahead of 2026 CS2 Season

Portuguese rifler Michel “ewjerkz” Pinto is expected to leave Ninjas in Pyjamas’ starting Counter-Strike 2 lineup ahead of the 2026 season, according to a report from Portuguese outlet RTP Arena that has been independently corroborated by HLTV’s own sources.

RTP Arena reports that NIP have decided not to retain the 25-year-old for next year despite the squad meeting their primary goal for 2025 by qualifying for a Major.The organization has not yet made the move official, but multiple reports describe it as a done decision regarding the team’s plans for 2026, with ewjerkz expected to be removed from the active roster rather than transferred immediately to a known destination.

End of a short but eventful NIP chapter

The news comes on the heels of Ninjas in Pyjamas’ campaign at StarLadder Budapest Major 2025, where Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer’s lineup not only made it through the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) grinder to qualify, but also reached Stage 2 and even started the second Swiss group 2-0 before losing three consecutive best-of-three series and bowing out.

Since joining NIP at the start of 2025, ewjerkz has been one of the pillars of the rebuilt European roster. HLTV notes that he averaged a 1.08 rating during his time with the Ninjas, contributing both firepower and experience as the team climbed the European VRS ladder to secure its Budapest Major berth.

Beyond the Major run, his best finishes with NIP include:

• Second place at StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2025

• Quarter-finals at PGL Astana 2025

• Deep runs and podium finishes at Fragadelphia-branded events while the team farmed crucial VRS points.

RTP Arena’s reporting frames NIP’s decision as a competitive reset: even though the organization is satisfied that the goal of reaching a Major was achieved, management has opted for another round of changes after only one year with this core.

From SAW breakout star to international project

For ewjerkz, the expected benching in NIP marks another turning point in a career that has accelerated since his breakout with SAW. The rifler spent roughly two and a half years with the Portuguese organization, joining in July 2022 and helping them qualify for their first Major, PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen 2024, and reach the semi-finals at IEM Cologne 2024. Over the 2024 season he posted a 1.13 rating, underlining his status as one of Portugal’s premier talents.

SAW benched him at the start of December 2024 after he expressed a desire to “explore new opportunities on the international stage,” before eventually transfer-listing him. At the time, HLTV already reported that the logical next step was a move to Ninjas in Pyjamas as part of a sweeping rebuild around sniper Artem “r1nkle” Moroz and veteran in-game leader Snappi.

That overhaul, first detailed in January 2025, envisioned a five-man core of:

• Artem “r1nkle” Moroz

• Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer

• Rasmus “sjuush” Beck

• Rafael “arrozdoce” Wing

• Michel “ewjerkz” Pinto

with Richard “Xizt” Landström behind them as coach.

NIP themselves described bringing in the ex-SAW duo arrozdoce and ewjerkz as a way to “put Portugal back on the map of competitive CS”, highlighting their surprise quarter-final run at IEM Cologne 2024 as a key reason for the bet.

Role shift and mixed form in late 2025

The end of 2025 has been a mixed period individually for ewjerkz. At Budapest, he admitted in an HLTV interview that he had struggled earlier in the year in a star-rifler role and had recently taken a step back to make room for younger teammate Kacper “xKacpersky” Gabara to assume more responsibility.

He explained that NIP had deliberately slowed down their game to give themselves more time to think through rounds, stressing that mental energy and confidence were key focus points after an opening-day upset loss to daps’ NRG in Stage 1. Despite “middling at best” numbers over much of the year, a standout 1.85 rating on Train during the Major showed he could still hit a high ceiling and gave him a personal boost of confidence heading into Stage 2.

Across his professional career to date, HLTV lists him with a 1.02 overall rating, 0.70 kills per round and 0.68 deaths per round over more than 800 maps, underlining a long-term profile of a solid, aggressive rifler capable of spikes in form on big stages.

Cairne tipped as potential replacement

RTP Arena’s article also points to a possible successor. According to the Portuguese outlet, Artem “cairne” Mushynskyi of Inner Circle has been discussed as the leading candidate to replace ewjerkz in NIP’s starting five for 2026. HLTV echoes those rumors, noting that the 23-year-old Ukrainian has had a breakout year, posting a 1.20 rating while helping Inner Circle’s European roster rise from obscurity and forming a potent partnership with 18-year-old prospect David “Dawy” Bibik.

At this stage, the potential move remains unconfirmed; there has been no official announcement from either Inner Circle or Ninjas in Pyjamas. What is clear, however, is that NIP are again prepared to reshape their lineup rather than run back the same five that carried them through 2025.

Portuguese era in NIP comes to a close

One immediate consequence of ewjerkz’s expected removal is the end – at least for now – of Portuguese representation in NIP’s men’s Counter-Strike division. The flag first entered the lineup at the start of 2025, when arrozdoce and ewjerkz left SAW together for their first international project.

That chapter had already begun to wind down earlier in the year. arrozdoce moved on from NIP and is now part of OG’s roster, having first joined as a temporary stand-in and later signing a permanent deal. OG have since finalized their own 2026 lineup around in-game leader Casper “cadiaN” Møller and Russian rifler Timur “FL4MUS” Marev, solidifying arrozdoce’s future away from NIP.

With ewjerkz now seemingly on the way out as well, NIP’s ambitious 2025 experiment – blending a Portuguese duo with Scandinavian structure and Eastern European star power – looks set to be fully dismantled after just one season.

What’s next?

For now, Michel “ewjerkz” Pinto remains under contract with Ninjas in Pyjamas, with no official announcement on whether he will be benched, transfer-listed or immediately moved to another organization. RTP Arena explicitly notes that his future is “still uncertain”, and no reputable outlet has yet linked him concretely to a specific next team.

What is known is that he leaves NIP (at least as a starter) having:

• Helped the team qualify for the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 via the demanding VRS system

• Contributed to a Stage-2 appearance and a 2-0 start in the second Swiss group

• Reached significant playoff finishes at PGL Astana and StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2025

• Maintained a solid rating and shown flashes of the form that made him one of SAW’s standout players in 2023–2024.

Until an official statement arrives from NIP or a new employer, any further step is speculation. For now, the only confirmed piece is that the Ninjas are planning another overhaul – and that ewjerkz’s first international adventure in black and yellow is drawing to a close.