NiP to playoffs over Ghost; HellRaisers knock Gambit out

Ninjas in Pyjamas and HellRaisers beat Ghost and Gambit, respectively, in three-map matches. HellRaisers beat Gambit on Train, 16-9, lost on Cache, 8-16, and sealed the deal on Inferno, 16-10, while Ninjas in Pyjamas lost Inferno, 11-16, won Train, 16-12, and sealed the deal on Nuke, 16-6.

HellRaisers and Gambit kicked their series off on Train, with the former taking the lead on the Terrorist side as each player on the team got a frag under their belt in the first round. A poor defense on B then gave HellRaisers free rein to take the site and the first gun round for a 4-0 lead. Gambit were finally able to get on the board after stopping an A execute, but were quickly reset as Issa "⁠ISSAA⁠" Murad got a triple the following round to keep HellRaisers in the lead. Kyrylo "⁠ANGE1⁠" Karasiow & co. went on to take a big lead, but a solid late half effort by Gambit winning four out of the five last rounds kept the match alive, with HellRaisers leading 10-5 in the half.

Gambit then took the second pistol round of the first map, further closing the gap to 8-10 after the anti-ecos. Despite losing the first gun round, Gambit kept the streak going with a B strike to keep it within two and maim HellRaisers’ economy. Having saved three guns, HellRaisers were able to win the following round on the back of doubles by ISSAA and Bence "⁠DeadFox⁠" Böröcz to keep the lead going late into the map. Finally able to stabilize, HellRaisers closed out the CT side for a 16-9 victory on map 1.

The second map, Cache, kicked off with Gambit taking the early lead, winning the first four rounds on the Terrorist side. Firing on all cylinders, and with all players pitching in, Gambit kept raking in rounds for a dominant 12-3 half.

The second pistol round saw HellRaisers go A, planting the bomb in a 5vs5 as Gambit prepared the retake. After two trades on each side, making it 3vs3, the attacking side, now defending the bomb, was able to seal the deal although with 4-12 on the board HellRaisers still had a long way to go. A huge triple by Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov with the USP in the full eco round gave Gambit the round and put them back in the driver's’ seat. Following it up twice, they were able to make it match point. Despite losing three rounds in a row, Gambit were finally able to close it out, 16-8.

The final map of the match, kicked off with a red-hot Dauren "⁠AdreN⁠" Kystaubayev helping his team to a 3-0 lead before Gambit and HellRaisers traded rounds all the way to 5-3. The match quickly evened out, 6-6, as both teams adjusted play-to-play. Both teams, fighting for survival, went to the half with HellRaisers ahead by the smallest of margins, 8-7.

Having won the second pistol round to keep their lead, HellRaisers started to make a leap towards victory on the CT side, making good reads and keeping Gambit’s attacks under control. With 14-8 on the board, everything looked set for HellRaisers, but a big round by Nikolay "⁠mir⁠" Bityukov and Rustem "⁠mou⁠" Telepov who got a double and a triple, kept their team alive, but it was too little too late as HellRaisers went on to win it out, 16-10, to stay alive in Stockholm.

On the defending side on Inferno, it was Ghost who were able to take the 3-0 lead after winning the pistol round and the two follow-ups. The North American side quickly took control of their map pick giving up just one round out of the first 10 for a 9-1 lead. Ninjas in Pyjamas finally found their groove late in the half, winning four out of the last five rounds to make it 5-10 before the switch and keeping their hopes alive.

A huge double kill by Jonas "⁠Lekr0⁠" Olofsson in a 2vs3 afterplant gave the Swedes the first round of the second half as he and Dennis "⁠dennis⁠" Edman were able to clear the site and defuse the bomb in time. Ninjas in Pyjamas then got the two following to make it 8-10. Ghost found their groove on the attack winning three rounds in a row, and were then able to bring it up to 15-11 before sealing the deal 16-11.

Train started with Ninjas in Pyjamas winning the pistol round on the attack after a play on A, but after taking the two anti-ecos it was Ghost who gained control of the map, winning three of their own to bring it to a tie before taking the lead for the first time, 4-3. On the CT side, Ghost were able to take control, making it 10-5 after a good half.

With the map wide open, Ninjas in Pyjamas started to climb back, all the way to a tie at 11-11. On the CT side of Train and with Ghost having some money troubles, the Swedes were able to capitalize and win a hard-fought map, 16-12.

The decider, Nuke, kicked off with Ninjas in Pyjamas taking the pistol round on the attacking side. The Swedes then showed more prowess as they racked up the rounds early on as Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner and Lekr0 played lights out. Such was Ninjas in Pyjamas’s dominance that they closed the half out 13-2.

Having won the pistol round, Ghost kept the dream alive, although Ninjas in Pyjamas were quick to shut the North American side down in the first gun round, bringing it to 14-5. The Swedes were then able to close the map (16-6) and series out, qualifying to the playoffs.