Jacob "pyth" Mourujärvi is joining the ever-growing list of CS:GO professional players that are abandoning the game in favor of Valorant. The new first-person shooter is proving quite alluring for those who couldn’t make it big in CS:GO and more and more low tier pros are putting an end to their career in the Valve shooter with the hopes that Riot’s will treat them better.
Out of the Pyth of misery and into Valorant
Pyth would be a recognizable name for those that followed the CS:GO scene a few years back. Pyth’s time to shine came at the start of 2016 when he was called upon by Ninjas in Pyjamas to replace Aleksi “allu” Jalli on the roster.
The Ninjas were a shell of their former selves by this time but the charisma around the original four-man core of Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund, Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg, Richard “Xizt” Landström and Adam “friberg” Friberg was still very much present and as a result pyth was thrown into the headlights.
Retiring from CS:GORead: https://t.co/zQ9inJMzXU
— pyth =DD (@G2pyth) May 7, 2020
The player enjoyed moderate success with NiP, winning two titles at DreamHack Masters Malmö and IEM Oakland, both in 2016, and performed one of the most memorable aces in the history of the game, so he wasn’t a literal flop. Regardless, his time with NiP marked a period of steady decline and he was the first “fifth” member with whom NiP failed to reach a Major final.
After he was relieved of his duties in March 2017 his career trajectory reminisced that of his former team’s form – all downhill. He ended 2017 with GODSENT and lingered around different Swedish rosters in the following years but in the player’s own words – he could never return to the form that got him into NiP in the first place.
One of the most decorated players in CS:GO history, with championships on championships under his belt as both a player and a coach.We're happy to welcome @OfficialfRoD as our head coach for Valorant, to further our org's winning tradition in NA! #T1WIN pic.twitter.com/7gQpQSv1NA
— T1 (@T1) May 7, 2020
Pyth plans to turn to Valorant for shelter. He feels quite upbeat in his official statement, even suggesting that he could be part of a full Valorant pro-team roster announcement in the coming weeks. Simultaneously with pyth’s retirement, T1 announced its first Valorant coach – former CS:GO player and coach Daniel “froD” Montaner, so there might be something going on there, who knows?
Finally, pyth took the time to share some fond words of CS:GO and his time in the game. Something not all retiring pros are in the business of doing.