NiP over EnVyUs to Swedish team final

NiP wasted no time starting off the second semifinal of the day on the right foot, by taking their T side pistol round as well as the first gunround.

Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon helped rally the French EnVyUs squad on the fifth round with an aggressive middle play that put the first round on the board for the "Boys in Blue."

On EnVy's own map pick, NiP ran up to a commanding scoreline of 8:1 before their opponents could once again attempt a fully equipped gunround. Once again however, NiP simply overpowered nV with pick-based gameplay and took over A-site with ease.

EnVy kept up with force-buys in order to attempt to dismantle NiP's momentum to no avail, with the NiP's team leader Richard "⁠Xizt⁠" Landström as well as Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg firing on all cylinders in terms of T-side fragging.

The usually taciturn Xizt gave a loud account of himself on cache

On the 12th round, Edouard "⁠SmithZz⁠" Dubourdeaux combined CZ-75 and AK-47 play at middle to finally give nV their second CT round on the board. The very next round, NiP opted for an aggressive A-take and steamrolled any attempts of a Tricolore comeback in the first half, although the Frenchmen were able to harness the final two rounds in their favour.

EnVyUs demonstrated why they continue to be a team at the elite tier of Counter-Strike in the second half, by stringing together a T-sided comeback of five rounds before NiP once again began to wear them down.

With the score at 14:9 for NiP, EnVyUs went with a default A take and managed to secure the site; NiP grappled in and won a two-on-two despite this advantage and forced the match-point. In the next round, with nV looking lazy and dispirited, NiP powered ahead to take de_cache 16:9.

The second map was de_dust2, and NiP came out roaring on their T-sided pistol round with a long rush, reading nV for their middle stack perfectly. In the first gun round, Vincent "⁠Happy⁠" Schopenhauer fulfilled on his role as both star player and IGL with three kills on A-site to bring the Frenchmen back into the game.

The next-round, the 22-year-old shox hit a pleasing double kill on short A to keep up nV's CT campaign; and indeed the Frenchmen continued to score rounds against NiP with variable rotations and Happy leading with aggressive pushes.

Happy had a strong game on dust2 

After giving nV the lead up until 7:4, the Swedish powerhouse began to claw their way back into the game and picked up three more T rounds, with f0rest shining in the kill department. nV were not given a single extra round and NiP ended the half at an 8:7 lead.

In the second half NiP began to calmly pull away with a lead and eventually stood at match-point, 15:10. nV were put on a forced pistol-buy and attacked B-site, but the defense was too strong and NiP walked away with the series win and on to the grand final.

This occasion marks their fifth appearance in the finals of the majors, meaning every single one to this day, an astonishing performance.