NiP come back; advance to semis

The match started off on NiP's pick, de_nuke, with the Swedes picking up the pistol and the following anti-eco. Doubles by Kory "⁠SEMPHIS⁠" Friesen and Jordan "⁠n0thing⁠" Gilbert beat NiP's second anti-eco and after the following round, the game was tied at 2-2 thanks to Mike "⁠shroud⁠" Grzesiek's triple on lower.

NiP's split upper strategy didn't work out as their outside players got killed, but in the following eco picked up three kills, which would've meant a round had Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund not miss a kill from behind.

Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg's triple while attacking upper lowered the deficit to 5-3 only for Cloud9 take the round afterwards on lower after another two-vs-two. Three rounds after that were taken by NiP, which meant the game was tied once again, at 6-6.

NiP's unfavorable exchanges in the following two rounds put them on a 6-8 deficit, although after an upper hit with GeT_RiGhT winning a one-vs-one, NiP were happy with the half ending up 7-8.

Despite a failed strategy as Terrorists, shroud was still able to get three kills on upper after rushing ramp and pushing up to heaven, and Cloud9 started building up the lead.

That was stopped at 13-7 in favour of the North American team also thanks to f0rest's AWP outside, but shroud's double in a two-vs-two didn't let NiP capitalize. As the Swedes weren't able to buy, the match went into seven map points, exchanged for a 1-0 lead on maps after the following round at 16-8.

Friberg's triple headshot as Terrorists on the initial pistol round of de_dust2 put NiP to 2-0, when Cloud9 decided to forcebuy. NiP got into the A bombsite, but shroud replied with a double in a two-vs-four, helping his team win their first round for 2-1.

NiP didn't allow any more breathing space for the following three rounds, which was before f0rest won a one-vs-three afterplant situation with an AWP, as Cloud9 were unable to defuse in time.

After Cloud9 started running a double-AWP setup, things quickly turned around with shroud picking up kills left and right for 4-7. Then Sean "⁠seang@res⁠" Gares's quad saved his team from losing an eco, and out of the last three rounds, the Americans picked up two.

seang@res and company ran a chaotic pistol, which was met with NiP's firm defence, as Adam "⁠friberg⁠" Friberg racked up another triple for eventually 11-7 after the anti-eco. Two forcebuys in a row weren't met with much success for Cloud9, but they made up for it by winning two rounds in a row afterwards.

Cloud9 weren't able to convert four short pushes in a row into more than one round, which saw NiP getting to five map points. A rush long that time around worked out, as well as the following round and the eco afterwards, and the scoreline was set to 15-13.

NiP had to eco at that point and couldn't surprise Cloud9 despite having saved two weapons. Robin "⁠Fifflaren⁠" Johansson's pick on SEMPHIS on long meant Cloud9 went for an immediate B split, but their unfavorable situation was soon turned into 16-14, 1-1.

The final map was de_cobblestone, where Cloud9 started as Counter-Terrorists, but got off to a bad start despite winning the pistol and the following anti-eco. friberg's one-vs-one alongside [f0rest]'s triple with an AWP helped NiP go up 5-3.

Cloud9 then defended the B bombsite push successfully, but Fifflaren's triple put a stop to them, putting NiP on a 7-4 lead. Cloud9 replied with a round of their own, and n0thing showcased his skills in a one-vs-three afterwards, helping his team lower the deficit to one round.

Even though NiP's eco bomb plant helped them buy up in the last round, they still weren't able to come out on top and switched over to Terrorists with seven rounds.

Cloud9's sidewalk strategy in the second pistol worked wonders for them, friberg had a lot to say in the following round, as he stayed hidden in the A bombsite and won NiP a round only by killing the bomb carrier in the last five seconds.

shroud's team bought up what they could and came back from a two-vs-four on A to stay in the lead 10-8, only for GeT_RiGhT to show a similar round to the previous one, killing the bomb carrier all the way back at T spawn, not letting Cloud9 pick it up.

Following two rounds went NiP's way, although it was shroud once again doing work for his team, winning a one-vs-two thanks to a smart play on the A bombsite. friberg then stepped up, picked up four kills and with GeT_RiGhT's triple two rounds after, their team was up 14-11.

A mostly CZ75-only forcebuy and two pick-offs forcing NiP to save were standing in the Swedes' way, as the last two rounds were exchanged, NiP could start to celebrate after 16-14, 2-1.

ESL One Cologne 2014Best of 3

Cloud9

Matchpage

1

2

16th August 2014

Ninjas in Pyjamas

16

Nuke

8

14

Dust2

16

14

Cobblestone

16

Ninjas in Pyjamas	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating1.0
Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundGeT_RiGhT	72 - 54	+18	-	-	1.21
Adam 'friberg' Fribergfriberg	60 - 59	+1	-	-	1.03
Patrik 'f0rest' Lindbergf0rest	62 - 61	+1	-	-	1.00
Richard 'Xizt' LandströmXizt	57 - 59	-2	-	-	0.99
Robin 'Fifflaren' JohanssonFifflaren	37 - 61	-24	-	-	0.66

Cloud9	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating1.0
Mike 'shroud' Grzesiekshroud	69 - 50	+19	-	-	1.19
Spencer 'Hiko' MartinHiko	60 - 55	+5	-	-	1.02
Kory 'SEMPHIS' FriesenSEMPHIS	58 - 61	-3	-	-	0.94
Sean 'seang@res' Garesseang@res	50 - 59	-9	-	-	0.88
Jordan 'n0thing' Gilbertn0thing	57 - 63	-6	-	-	0.87

Day three is now over with all four semi-final names known, tomorrow morning the play will resume with fnatic taking on dignitas at 09:00 , while NiP and LDLC will follow.