OpTic beat NiP; advance to Europe Minor upper-bracket final

OpTic is one BO3 win away from the FACEIT Major New Challenger Stage after defeating Ninjas in Pyjamas 2-1 (Nuke 16-7, Overpass 15-19, Inferno 16-3).

OpTic broke out on the A site of Nuke to win the Terrorist pistol round and start their map pick on the right foot. Converting the anti-ecos convincingly, combined with Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke grabbing a 3K in an afterplant in the lower bombsite, had OpTic run up an impressive 8-0 lead, with Nicklas "⁠gade⁠" Gade standing out for his team as well.

The Swedes finally got on the board with a force buy and started salvaging the half from there. Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner secured a massive quad kill while holding ramp in round 12, pushing Ninjas in Pyjamas towards a 6-9 half time score. After the switch, Ninjas in Pyjamas's pistol round outside-ramp split was shut down on both fronts, seeing OpTic return to the drivers' seat. With Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund's double entry on a force buy, Ninjas in Pyjamas was able to win their first Terrorist round, but OpTic bounced back instantly, reset Ninjas in Pyjamas and finished the game 16-7.

Ninjas in Pyjamas claimed the Terrorist pistol round on Overpass without a single casualty, but they fumbled in the anti-eco as René "⁠cajunb⁠" Borg and Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer combined for four frags. OpTic then squeezed through Ninjas in Pyjamas's force buy attempts and closed out the first rifle round, claiming the early game advantage.

The score was 8-2 when gade seemingly saved his team with an exquisite triple-spraydown, but GeT_RiGhT then struck back with a 1v3 clutch to give his team a chance on the Terrorist side. Ninjas in Pyjamas were setting themselves up to end the half on a high when gade popped out of a smoke and retook A in a 1v3, with OpTic finishing the half 10-5 up.

Jonas "⁠Lekr0⁠" Olofsson's squad won the pistol and survived a reset to get five early CT rounds, equalizing the score at 11-11. REZ and Dennis "⁠dennis⁠" Edman then combined, giving Ninjas in Pyjamas the lead for the first time since the Terrorist pistol, but OpTic were finding success towards A and took back the lead, getting to match point shortly. Ninjas in Pyjamas seemed done for, but they managed to tie together the last two rounds to force overtime, before OpTic 4-0 in the added rounds to win Overpass 19-15 and force the decider.

On Inferno, a double headshot from k0nfig's p250 broke open Ninjas in Pyjamas's defenses, kicking off a dominant T side for OpTic. Snappi's side was dictating the pace of the game, grabbing an 8-0 before the Ninjas in Pyjamas got on the board. OpTic instantly replied with two rounds of their own, breaking their opponents economy, only for dennis's USP-S to deal enough damage to allow Lekr0 to steal away the round. (8-2)

That unlikely round still didn't help Ninjas in Pyjamas, who finished the half with just two rounds, moving onto the T-side with minimal chances for a comeback. The pistol round came down to a 1v1 that was awkwardly clutched by k0nfig, allowing OpTic to end the game 16-2.