Ninjas in Pyjamas have secured their roster for the 2025 season. It wasn't easy for the Ninjas, who lost three of their sharpest blades during the offseason. Indeed, the Sino-Swedish team saw its star midlaner Song “Rookie” Eui-jin, its botlaner Ying “Photic” Qi-Shen and its support Wang “Zhuo” Xu-Zhuo leave for Invictus Gaming and LNG respectively. The team retains some of its 2024 roster, however, re-signing toplaner Deng “shanji” Zi-Jian and jungler Mao “Aki” An.

Not the same standing

While NiP are coming off a rather encouraging season (albeit with some di

sappointments) with a 4th place finish in the Spring Split and a 5th-6th place finish in the Summer, next year looks a little more complicated, at least on paper. Indeed, the three newcomers have far less experience than their predecessors, and their results so far have also been less good.

To replace the 2018 world champion Rookie, NiP are counting on Zhao “neny” Zhi-Hao. He came through the Invictus Gaming ranks in the “Youth” roster. He did make a few first-team appearances when he was still a toplaner in 2023, but it wasn't until the 2024 Summer Split that he had his first split as a midlane starter. This first experience in the elite ended with an 11-13th place finish in the playoffs.

In botlane, the Chinese team chose to recruit Hu “Leave” Hong-Chao. His career is very similar to that of his new midlaner, the difference being the team. Leave has always played for EDward Gaming and EDG Youth until next year. He also moved back and forth between the LPL and LDL rosters and, like neny, only played for the first team during the Summer Split. Unfortunately for him, EDG were eliminated from the Group stage, finishing in 5th place and thus failing to qualify for the playoffs.

Recreating the jungle/support synergy

To complete their roster, the Ninjas will finally be able to count on a player with a little more major league experience in the person of Guo “ppgod” Peng. In his 5th year in the LPL, he played for Oh My God, but once again, results proved rather complicated: 9-10th in Spring and 11-13th in Summer. However, he will be reunited with two former teammates at NiP, as he had already played with shanji and Aki in 2023, with rather encouraging results. By recreating this jungle/support synergy, the team hopes to get the best out of its players for the upcoming season.

For 2025, NiP have therefore taken the gamble of turning to profiles with less experience and some are just finding their way back into the LPL. Although on paper this roster appears to be weaker than this year's, the other teams in the league still have to watch out for shadows, as NiP are capable of innovation in all circumstances. If you didn't know, it was Zhuo who brought up to date the Swap Lane strategy, which worked particularly well with shanji's pocket pick: Udyr. A meta that will have haunted many spectators in 2024, but whose effectiveness no longer needs to be proven.

Ninjas in Pyjamas 2025 roster:

Top: Deng "shanji" Zi-Jian
Jungle: Mao "Aki" An
Mid: Zhao "neny" Zhi-Hao
ADC: Hu "Leave" Hong-Chao
Support: Guo "ppgod" Peng

For more roster changes, check out our Transfers Hub