9INE Official: shield has been relegated to the bench, and his position has been taken over by flayy.

European CS2 team 9INE announced on Tuesday that Roberts Tipsis (ID: shield) will be relegated to the bench, effective immediately. At the same time, 9INE confirmed that 20-year-old Polish player Alan Krupa (ID: flayy) will take over as their sniper.

The 23-year-old shield hails from Latvia and has played as a sniper for several CS teams during his professional career, including Wolsung, LowLandLions, MOUZ NXT, The Prodigies, Monte Gen, SKYFURY, and Fire Flux. He transferred from Fire Flux to 9INE in January of this year, replacing Love Smidbrandt (ID: phzy) in the starting lineup.

To date, shield has represented 9INE on 28 maps and participated in 580 rounds, achieving an average personal rating of 1.03. During this period, 9INE's global VRS ranking further declined, from 35th to 42nd.

In an effort to reverse their decline, 9INE signed flayy from Venom. flayy joined Venom from KOLESIE in September 2025 and has since played 113 maps and participated in 2412 rounds, with an average personal rating of 1.10.

In January of this year, flayy was placed on the transfer list after Venom disbanded its CS2 roster. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will make his debut for 9INE at the Stake ranked season 1 closed qualifier this Thursday.

Following a series of personnel adjustments, 9INE's current roster is as follows:

Commander: Rasmus Stensburg (ID: raalz)

Rifleman: Tobias Krag Jensen (ID: kraghen)

Rifleman: Bartosh Nebiš (ID: bnox)

Rifleman: Jan Dier (ID: cej0t)

Sniper: Alan Krupa (ID: flayy)

Coach: Danny Kruger (ID: BERRY)

Substitute: Roberts Tipsis (ID: shield)

Image source: Internet