NiP beat LGB 2-1

After an intense battle and the most interesting match of the tournament so far, Ninjas in Pyjamas overcame an early one map deficit against LGB eSports for a 2-1 win (14-16 on de_dust2, 16-9 on de_train & 16-7 on de_inferno), moving on to the semi-finals.

The first quarter-final of DreamHack Winter featured two Swedish teams, the reigning champions Ninjas in Pyjamas and one of the surprises of day one, LGB eSports. The latter  made it through Group A earlier today by taking out Natus Vincere and Clan-Mystik, but meeting NiP would certainly be a whole new animal.

After some PC issues for both teams, the match started on LGB's pick de_dust2, but with NiP getting to choose the T side.

To start with, the heavy favorites NiP pulled off a 2-on-4 courtesy of their superstar duo Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg and Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund in the pistol round.

They went on to take a 5-0 lead, but a couple of 2-on-2 retakes by Olof "olofm" Kajbjer and Alexander "SKYTTEN" Carlsson along with one more round brought LGB into the game at 5-3.

However, another big streak by the Ninjas, this time 6 straight rounds, put them way ahead 11-3. The last round went to LGB, which together with the following pistol when they rushed B and Mikail "eksem" Bill managed to knife Alesund, brought them back to life.

After the ecos, LGB dropped the first buy to Richard "Xizt" Landström's 1-on-2, but they immediately reset their economy and marched on towards 12-10.

olofm was the key to map one win for LGB

Kajbjer's AWP started making the difference, as he made two entry kills on long to lead the way for 12-11, and he continued doing well as LGB went into the lead for the first time at 13-12.

NiP still managed to reply, and get the lead back following 3 AWP kills from Robin "Fifflaren" Johansson in the A site, 14-13.

Their in-game leader Landström then read the next attack well, and even got 3 kills while defending the B bombsite, but Bill and Kajbjer clutched another 2-on-2 for 14-14.

The all-deciding 29th round also went to LGB, and NiP were down on money in the last one. Sporting various pistols, the Swedes tried stacking the catwalk area with 3 players, but Kajbjer scored an incredible set of kills, taking out three with a single spray which prompted LGB to win the map 16-14.

The youngsters continued riding high on their first map win after de_train began, taking the first three rounds on the CT side. However, the more experienced of the Swedes won six of the next seven rounds and solidified a good T side half, despite losing the remaining rounds for a 9-6 lead by LGB, again pulled ahead by Kajbjer.

GeT_RiGhT was the difference-maker on de_train

But as if NiP had planned it, they immediately started their comeback after the sides changed, winning round after round and getting into the lead after Alesund picked up a SCAR-20 autosniper.

Johansson was also doing well with the AWP, having several multi-kill rounds, but it was Alesund who was in charge of the second half show, as he ended up with a 19:1 score in the ten straight rounds that brought NiP a 16-9 victory, and evened up the score in maps.

The decider map was de_inferno, and LGB once again got to start on the easier CT side. But it seemed like they just couldn't keep up with the favorites, who went up 9-0 topped off by a great 4-kill round from Johansson.

LGB reduced the deficit to 11-4 by the end of the half, and then made the perfect call in their T-side pistol to head through the CT spawn over to B for 11-5.

friberg and f0rest led the way on the deciding map

The following two anti-ecos were, however, the last rounds LGB would win, as NiP successfully defended against the next five attacks, closing out the map and the match with a 16-7 win.

LGB	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating1.0
Mikail 'Maikelele' BillMaikelele	57 - 56	+1	-	-	1.00
Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjerolofmeister	54 - 56	-2	-	-	0.96
Dennis 'dennis' Edmandennis	52 - 56	-4	-	-	0.95
Alexander 'SKYTTEN' CarlssonSKYTTEN	41 - 57	-16	-	-	0.77
Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonKRIMZ	36 - 54	-18	-	-	0.70

This victory sent NiP to the semi-finals where they will wait for the winner of D1 vs. C2 match-up. LGB eSports will bow out of the tournament in an unexpectedly high 5-8th place and with a $10,000 cheque in their hands.