Counter Strike 2: Ninjas in Pyjamas (NIP) officially announce the signing of Inner Circle rifler Cairne..

Swedish Counter Strike 2 club Ninjas in Pyjamas (NIP) announced on Sunday via their official X (Twitter) account that they have signed rifler Cairne from Inner Circle.

According to NIP's official statement, Cairne will become the team's new starting rifler and will make his debut for NIP in the BLAST Bounty Season 1 online stage.

His first match as a member of NIP will be against Liquid.

With Cairne's arrival, Inner Circle's roster is now complete. The team's starting rifler position had previously been held primarily by ewjerkz, but he failed to perform well in the role, leading NIP to make roster changes in July.

His position was subsequently taken by xKacpersky, who was on-loan from The MongolZ. He was then benched in December.

Ninjas in Pyjamas (NIP) are striving to continue their success from the StarLadder Budapest Major, where they finished the first stage 3-1 and started the second stage 2-0 before being eliminated by consecutive losses to FaZe, PARIVISION, and 3DMAX.

The team also won the Roman Imperium Cup III at the end of December last year (with Maden playing as a stand-in), a victory that secured them a direct invitation to the first stage of the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Krakow group stage.

About Cairne

Born on October 25, 2002, in Ukraine, the 23-year-old Cairne became a professional Counter Strike 2 esports player in 2023, playing as a rifler.

Cairne's professional career began with The Glecs and DASH, before joining THE NEXT LEVEL (TNL).

During his time with TNL, Cairne rose to fame after leading his team to victory against Fnatic (FNC) in the Exort The Proving Grounds Season 1.

Last September, Cairne transferred to Inner Circle.

Cairne played 291 maps in 2025, averaging a 1.20 rating. In ESL Pro League Season 22, he performed exceptionally well alongside rising star Dawy, helping Inner Circle secure a 3-0 victory in Stage 1 and achieving a personal rating of 1.21.

NIP's current roster is:

Entry Fragger / In-Game Leader: Snappi

Support: sjuush

AWP-er: r1nkle

Rifler: xKacpersky (on-loan)

Rifler: Cairne

Coach: Xizt

Rifler: ewjerkz (benched / stand-in)