mousesports take the third quarter-final of the day over NiP

It took MOUZ three maps, Mirage (9-16), Inferno (16-11), and Nuke (16-9), to win against Ninjas in Pyjamas and move on to the semi-finals.

The first round of Mirage went to Ninjas in Pyjamas on the shoulders of Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg, who downed three of the attacking players of MOUZ. Four kills by Miikka "⁠suNny⁠" Kemppi on the A site gave the forcebuy to the European combine, but Ninjas in Pyjamas struck right back, breaking MOUZ’ economy and taking the early lead, 3-1, before the first gun round. MOUZ then took it with a quick plant on A and a strong after plant defense, but Ninjas in Pyjamas then took the reins of the half as the terrorists tried executes on A over and over in vein all the way to a 9-2 lead. With their map pick slipping away, MOUZ were finally able to turn it around winning the last four for a 9-6 scoreline before the switch.

Having won the second pistol round, MOUZ were able to bring it back to a tie, 9-9. A play on B by Ninjas in Pyjamas in the first gun round in which Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner killed the last two enemies in a 2vs2 got Ninjas in Pyjamas back ahead. Having followed it up, they broke mouz’s economy, taking a 12-9 lead after an anti-eco. From thereon out, with f0rest and REZ at the helm, Ninjas in Pyjamas went on to close out the map without giving MOUZ a chance, 16-9.

Inferno started opposite to the last map, with MOUZ winning the pistol round and Ninjas in Pyjamas winning the force buy with a 1vs3 clutch from Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund. Once again, Ninjas in Pyjamas were able to take the early 4-1 lead, but this time around MOUZ won a forcebuy to stay in the game. The match evened out, with Ninjas in Pyjamas leading 6-5 when REZ was able to get three kills late in the round to deny the CTs a retake, although it didn’t stop Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool & co. from taking the 8-7 lead at the half.

MOUZ then increased their lead by winning the second pistol round with a play on the A site. Down 7-11, a strong hold by William "⁠draken⁠" Sundin on B with two AWP kills kept the Ninjas within reaching distance. The Swedes then got within one, 11-12, but a double entry on A by suNny cleared the site for his team to take the round. With that round win, MOUZ opened the floodgates and went on to win the map out, 16-11.

Nuke started out going the way of MOUZ who won the pistol round on the defending side with doubles by Chris "⁠chrisJ⁠" de Jong and suNny. This time, they were also able to win the following rounds, all the way to an 8-0 lead, without giving Ninjas in Pyjamas a chance. The Swedes were finally able to get on the board, winning back-to-back rounds, but Tomáš "⁠oskar⁠" Šťastný denied them a third with an ace. Winning the last four in a row, Ninjas in Pyjamas were able to stay alive ahead of the last pistol round of the match, with a 6-9 scoreline.

Once again, MOUZ took the pistol round to increase the distance on the scoreboard. The second round wasn't followed up, as Ninjas in Pyjamas won it on the defense, but a third round clutch by chrisJ winning a 1vs3 put MOUZ back in the driver's seat. While Ninjas in Pyjamas pushed to bring it back, it was eventually mouz who were able to close out the series with a 16-9 victory on Nuke.