NiP secure first Europe Minor win; defeat Red Reserve

Ninjas in Pyjamas recovered from a rough start on Overpass to defeat Red Reserve 16-14, picking up their first win at the Europe Minor.

Red Reserve held off Ninjas in Pyjamas's B approach in the pistol, securing the first two rounds on Overpass as a result. With their first full buy, Ninjas in Pyjamas did a perfect execute on B, grabbing three unanswered kills to get on the board, but Simon "⁠twist⁠" Eliasson's ace in the followup would see Red Reserve establish control early in the game

Red Reserve was dominant after that, cruising to an 8-1 lead as Ninjas in Pyjamas struggled to deal with the aggression. Finally, in a force-buy round, Dennis "⁠dennis⁠" Edman picked up four frags, clutching a 1v2 at the end, to bring Ninjas in Pyjamas back to life. The score was 8-4 when Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg opened up the round with the AWP and dennis followed it up with a quick double, setting Ninjas in Pyjamas on course to a salvaged, 8-7 half.

Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund and co. continued their six-round streak in the second half, winning the CT-side pistol and taking the lead shortly (11-8). f0rest's double in underpass hindered Red Reserve's offense quickly and saw Ninjas in Pyjamas extend their lead, with Red Reserve looking uninspired on the T side up till that point (14-8).

Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin then managed a double-entry to end Ninjas in Pyjamas's 13-round streak and Red Reserve brought the game back to a 14-12, which soon turned into a 15-14, but Ninjas in Pyjamas managed to seal the deal before overtime, moving to the group B winner's match.