NiP overcome Virtus in three maps

Virtus.pro started their match against NiP by attacking the A bombsite on de_inferno through the hallway, easily taking over the site for a 3-0 lead while NiP had four players in banana.

Fourth round saw Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund and Adam "friberg" split the pot in B as NiP won the round. Richard "Xizt" Landström took down Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas next round in a one-on-one, but ran out of time to defuse.

With NiP low on money, Virtus went up 6-1. Jarosław "pasha" Jarząbkowski and Paweł "byali" Bieliński then eliminated NiP by themselves for a 7-1 lead, once again breaking NiP's money.

The Swedes went for a force buy they wound up losing, but then got into a two-on-one situation on a save round, but Janusz "snax" Pogorzelski's timely peek got Virtus the round.

Down 1-9, NiP mounted a serious comeback. They won their first two rounds with solid team efforts, and in-game leader Landström chimed in with four SCAR-20 kills to make it 4-9.

Xizt had a big SCAR-20 round on inferno 

Their fifth round win was a save by the Poles, and final round saw NiP extend their winning streak to five rounds, good for a 6-9 half time score after trailing 1-9 just minutes ago.

The yesterday-invisible Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg's Glock entries cleared A for NiP, and two Polish save rounds later they had tied the game. Filip "Neo" Kubski's one-on-one then put Virtus back in the lead.

The 10-9 lead was short lived though, as doubles from Lindberg and Landström tied the game, and more gun round win, as well as two saves from Virtus, put NiP back up 13-10.

A smart flank by Alesund sealed another round in NiP's favor, but Jarząbkowski kept his side in the game with three AWP kills in A. Doubles by him and Bieliński put a stop to NiP's attacks on the next round as well.

Pogorzelski and Kubski then tried the hero's cape on, winning a two-on-three retake in A, before another triple kill by Jarząbkowski, this time with an M4A4, tied the game at 14.

It was time for another momentum shift in a game that saw Virtus go up 9-1, then NiP win thirteen out of fourteen next rounds, only for Virtus to go win four more in a row.

pasha was a huge factor in Virtus' late second half comeback 

This time it was the individual efforts of Lindberg and Friberg, both of whom scored four AK47 kills on consecutive rounds in the B bombsite to clinch de_inferno 16-14 for the Ninjas.

Lindberg and Robin "Fifflaren" Johansson took out the entire Virtus.pro team to open up de_train for NiP with an early 3-0 lead. Bieliński won a one-on-one versus Lindberg to make it 1-3, but then NiP took over again.

The Swedes ran up a commanding 7-1 lead with notable Landström and Friberg getting all five kills in round five. From there on out, it was Virtus.pro's game, as the momentum once more shifted.

First Kubski and Pogorzelski scored doubles when pushing up on the inner site. Then three huge kills by Wojtas in inner secured another round, and two AWP picks by Jarząbkowski forced NiP to save.

All of a sudden up just 7-5, NiP won one more round but another triple by Wojtas in inner, as well as five kills from Pogorzelski and Jarząbkowski on the final round got Virtus within one.

Kubski stepped in with multiple strong performances on the second half, starting with three pistol round kills to tie the game up at eight. A quad kill by Kubski on round three then gave Virtus the lead at 11-8.

Neo was playing extremely well on the CT side of de_train 

Doubles by Landström and Alesund got NiP within two, but Virtus took down all of NiP on the round after despite a triple by Alesund. Then it was once more Kubski and Pogorzelski's turn, with the former scoring three kills in a two-on-four.

Up 13-9, Wojtas added more heat with a quad kill outside, breaking NiP's money. The Swedes barely survived a five-on-two next, but three AWP kills by Jarząbkowski won Virtus.pro the map 16-10 and evened the series.

Virtus.pro started de_dust2 with a terrorist side pistol round win as Pogorzelski and Jarząbkowski got two kills each. Walking out of double doors proved costly on round two though, as NiP evened the game.

Friberg then saved NiP with three kills in a two-on-three, and a one-on-two by Alesund as well as two kills from both Alesund and Lindberg on another round soon saw NiP up 5-1.

The Poles' struggles continued, as they got massacred on the top of A and hammered in the middle before a double from Bieliński helped win them just their second round of the half, in B.

Friberg mowed Virtus down at long, and four save round kills by Lindberg saw NiP extend their lead to 10-2. Losing a crucial one-on-one in B meant the Poles were down 2-11 one round later.

NiP finally closed out de_dust2, which they were superior on 

They saved for the final round, and were able to finally win a one-on-one situation, but it seemed too little too late as they changed to the harder side of the map with a 3-12 deficit.

Matters were made worse by Landström and Lindberg taking out the entire Virtus.pro team on their terrorist pistol round. Down 3-14, Kubski then lost a one-on-one against Johansson at A.

Now with twelve game points to play with, NiP started struggling. A double by Bieliński, some solid team play and four save round kills by Jarząbkowski got the Poles to 8-15.

Two kills from Pogorzelski in a B retake kept their hopes alive, and next it was Wojtas and Bieliński who scored two frags a piece. Bieliński's triple in A then got Virtus.pro to 11-15, and made the comeback seem plausible.

Just when it seemed to be all over, Kubski came through with a huge one-on-two after plant clutch against Alesund and Johansson in A, still keeping Virtus.pro alive in the series.

12-15 was as close as they would get though, as two entries by Lindberg in a mid-to-B attack secured NiP the site, and the Ninjas were able to close out the series 2-1 with a 16-12 de_dust2 win.

Virtus.pro place fourth at SLTV StarSeries IX Finals and collect $4,000 for their troubles. NiP will go on to face the loser of Titan versus Natus Vincere tomorrow at 14:00 .