LDLC win MLG X-Games Aspen

LDLC opened up the rematch of DreamHack Winter's grand final by winning the pistol round, but NiP quickly rebounded by winning round two, allowing them go up 2-1.

Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon's squad went on a four round winning streak to take over the lead and extend it to 5-2, but then Mikail "⁠Maikelele⁠" Bill's AWPing got NiP back into the game.

After making it 3-5, Adam "⁠friberg⁠" Friberg's two AK-47 kills got NiP within one, and the Swedes soon strolled to six rounds total, regaining the lead at 6-5 scoreline.

LDLC's aggressive play in the middle area tied the score at six, but then NiP showed strong terrorist side play as they closed out the half with three wins, and a 9-6 lead.

NiP's in-game leader Richard "⁠Xizt⁠" Landström combined with newest addition Maikelele for five kills to win the Swedes the second pistol round, this time as counter-terrorists.

Xizt's NiP got a second shot at LDLC after DH Winter final loss 

LDLC then split into the A bombsite, and with their pistols took down NiP and broke their money to make the score 9-10. The French then won the next round, forcing NiP on another save.

All of a sudden up 11-10, Fabien "⁠kioShiMa⁠" Fiey's team wound up winning eight unanswered rounds to turn the game on its heels, up 14-10 after a 6-10 deficit a short while ago.

The Ninjas could muster only one more round before Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt and company put them out of their misery and walked away with a 16-11 map one victory on de_dust2.

friberg started off de_inferno with two kills to put NiP up 1-0, and his team quickly extended their lead to three rounds, despite LDLC's three kills on round three.

Maikelele's triple wasn't enough to keep NiP's streak alive as shox won a one-on-one in B, and the Frenchmen were able to streak four rounds together.

NBK had some solid rounds in the grand final 

Two kills by friberg tied the game, and a triple by Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg in A gave NiP another narrow lead. LDLC then regained the lead, as they took over the B site twice.

NBK- ran out of time in the next round in a one-on-one against f0rest, who only had one health point left. From that point on NiP rallied, winning the three final rounds.

Edouard "⁠SmithZz⁠" Dubourdeaux's two kills helped LDLC shut down NiP in B, and they were able to take down NiP twice more to tie the game up at nine rounds a piece.

The combination of SmithZz and NBK- then gave LDLC another lead and forced NiP to save, but a vintage round by Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund saw him win a key one-on-three.

Tied at 10-10, friberg scored two entires to put NiP back up on top, followed by a one-on-two after plant clutch in B, that forced LDLC on a save round, and down 10-13.

f0rest's individual play wasn't enough to defeat LDLC 

Next two rounds were traded before LDLC mustered a force buy win, thanks to doubles from NBK- and kioShiMa, in the A site against NiP's full buy.

NBK- then scored four AK-47 kills in B to pull LDLC within one, but NiP forced map point by taking over the A site for a 15-13 lead, though LDLC still up in maps 1-0.

A two on three by shox and kioShiMa in B, together with NBK-'s two AWP kills a round later, finally forced overtime, where LDLC would continue as counter-terrorists.

LDLC won the opening round, as well as the third round, easily. However, in between f0rest managed to sneak in a one-on-one win to give NiP a chance.

That chance was all the Ninjas needed, as a quad kill by friberg tied the game at seventeen, f0rest's triple gave them a lead, and three kills by Xizt closed the map out 19-17.

NBK-'s triple gave LDLC an early lead on de_cobblestone, as they went up 3-0. NiP quickly tied the game, and Maikelele's triple on round seven allowed them to go up 5-3.

LDLC win; effectively become the best in the world 

A triple AWP effort by shox got LDLC their fourth round, but Xizt did even better as he scored four kills with his M4A4 by the sidehall of the A bombsite.

Double kills by kioShiMa and NBK- got LDLC one more round as terrorists, but they were then closed out by NiP, who rallied to gain a 10-5 halftime lead on the decider.

The Frenchmen won their defensive pistol round as well, resulting in a three round run before NiP attempted two straight buy rounds, neither of which had much success.

kioShiMa won a very quick one-on-two, killing last NiP player with a HE grenade, to put LDLC in the lead. Maikelele then lost a one-on-one to shox in the next round.

Up 12-10, it was in-game leader Vincent "⁠Happy⁠" Schopenhauer's turn to contribute three kills, and NiP were then shut then, as the Swedes couldn't win another round, finally surrendering 10-16.

MLG X-Games Aspen final standings:

1. LDLC - $25,000
2. NiP - $12,500
3. dignitas - $7,500
4. fnatic - $5,000
5-8. Cloud9
5-8. CLG
5-8. Liquid
5-8. KaBuM.TD

fnatic, Cloud9, CLG, Liquid and KaBuM.TD will be on display at ClutchCon next weekend in Denver, Colorado, while NiP will take part in ASUS ROG Winter 2015 in Helsinki, Finland.