NiP in big comeback win over Virtus

In another instant classic between these two teams, NiP beat Virtus.pro in overtime after being down 5-15 on the third map (9-16 on de_mirage_ce, 16-10 on de_dust2_se, 19-17 on de_nuke_se) to move on to SLTV StarSeries VI grand final.

With 13 maps behind them in 2013 LAN events so far and the score standing at 7-6 in favor of NiP, the upper bracket final of SLTV StarSeries VI set up to be a mouthwatering affair.

The first map was NiP's pick de_mirage_ce where they started on the Terrorist side. Thanks to one of their stars, Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg, who scored three glock kills in the A bombsite, the Swedes secured the early advantage.

Well on their way to a 5-0 lead after taking the usual easy anti-ecos, as well as the first buy round, NiP needed their other superstar Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund to clutch a 1-on-4 to make that score happen.

GuardiaN did everything Virtus.pro needed from him on mirage

Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács responded with 3 AWP kills in round six to get Virtus on the board, but NiP quickly went up 8-2, resetting their opponents' economy on two occasions after dropping a round.

Being on a save in round 11, Virtus.pro surprised NiP with a couple of kills by each Kovács and Kirill "ANGE1" Karasiow, thus forcing the Swedes to have an eco.

That was just the spark the CIS-based team needed, as they went on to win the remaining rounds of the half, as well as the first 5 rounds of the second half for a complete turnaround and a 13-8 lead.

Alesund's three sneaky famas kills in the A bombsite in a 3-on-3 prevented Virtus from extending the streak, but proved to be just a minor dent in their comeback.

The B attack in the next round seemed to go NiP's way before Mihail "Dosia" Stolyarov and Kovács clinched a 2-on-3 situation for 14-9, which put the Swedes on another save and practically sealed the deal as the map ended 16-9 just two rounds later.

NiP must have been worried after dropping their 3rd map in a row to Virtus

Switching to de_dust2_se, NiP snapped back from their downfall and won the CT side pistol round. However, an early galil buy in the third round brought Virtus into it quickly and they overturned the result to 3-2.

The lead extended to 5-2 before Adam "friberg" Friberg's 3 kills stopped a B attack, followed by Alesund repeating that same feat in the next round at the A bombsite, making the score 5-4.

That brought NiP back into the game completely, as they only dropped two more rounds until the end of the half, both of them courtesy of Kovács's and Karasiow's teamwork in 2-on-2 situations.

Guardian and ANGE1 kept Virtus in the game on dust2

With the half standing at 8-7 in favor of Virtus but NiP winning 6 of the last 8 rounds, Swedes' second pistol round win put them in a great position to control the match.

Even though Virtus.pro won the first buy round of the second half to reduce the deficit to 11-8, it was a pyrrhic victory due to only one player surviving, and it put them in an awkward position after losing the next one.

The CIS-based squad didn't give up and they won their eco round, but Lindberg put a stop to a similar comeback to the last map with his 3-kill round.

With Virtus set to be in money trouble until the end of the half, the Swedes easily brought the map to a close with a 16-10 scoreline.

NiP's trio had great individual rounds that prevailed on dust2

The final map was de_nuke_se, which meant these teams were completely repeating the set they played only last weekend at RC EMS One Summer Finals.

NiP won the pistol and went up 3-0, but Virtus.pro's defense proved to be too strong once the big guns came into play. After losing 7 in a row, Alesund went for an unusual pick and bought an AWP, scoring two kills with it to bring NiP what turned out to be their only remaining round of the half.

The best AWPer of the series, Kovacs, replied to that with 3 of his own kills outside in the round after that, and the younger of Stolyarov brothers, "Dosia", later clutched an important 1-on-2 for 10-4.

Dosia led the way in the first half of nuke with 18-4

Virtus.pro won their T-side pistol and it seemed they were on the brink of victory, but NiP's early third round famas buy saw Lindberg win a 1-on-1 with 3hp remaining to keep his team in the game.

It wasn't enough at that point though, as Kovács and Emil "kucher" Akhundov disposed of the entire Swedish team after being down in numbers 3-on-5 for to extend the lead to 14-5 and force NiP on an eco.

Saving money for the last chance turned out being the perfect move by the Ninjas, who found inspiration in their mad-fragger Alesund to start a comeback from the big deficit.

Alesund got NiP's first two kills in the following 3 rounds and sparked the Swedes to come back all the way, while he accumulated 21 kills in those 10 rounds when they faced match point.

GeT_RiGhT carried NiP to a huge come back with 21 kills in the last 10 rounds

Virtus.pro wasn't helped even by a timeout at 15-12, so the match went into an extra set of 2x3 rounds where the CIS-based squad started as CT. They won the first round thanks to a big-time 1vs3 clutch by Sergey "Fox" Stolyarov, but ended up dropping an important round after that before switching sides with a 2-1 lead.

However, that wasn't enough as NiP carried over their defense from the second half and swept Virtus.pro for a nail-biting 19-17 victory.

Virtus.pro	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating1.0
Ladislav 'GuardiaN' KovácsGuardiaN	61 - 53	+8	-	-	1.08
Kyrylo 'ANGE1' KarasiowANGE1	63 - 61	+2	-	-	1.08
Sergey 'Fox' StolyarovFox	53 - 58	-5	-	-	0.93
Emil 'kUcheR' AkhundovkUcheR	61 - 62	-1	-	-	0.93
Mihail 'Dosia' StolyarovDosia	53 - 61	-8	-	-	0.89

NiP have now moved on to the grand final which will be played tomorrow, Sunday, July 7th at 16:00 and where they will have a 1-0 advantage in a best-of-five series.

Virtus.pro will play against Natus Vincere later today around 18:00 in the consolidation final for a chance to challenge NiP once again.