Na`Vi outclass BIG; NiP move past North in Shanghai

Natus Vincere and Ninjas in Pyjamas have picked up their first victories at StarSeries i-League Season 7 after beating BIG and North, respectively.

The question of whether we would see an improved Natus Vincere side was answered just minutes into Mirage, the first map of the series against BIG. The Ukrainian side, who had failed to impress against ViCi on the opening day of the tournament, were in control from the beginning and constantly punished a BIG team that at times seemed completely disinterested.

BIG finally got on the board 11 rounds into the game thanks to a 1v3 clutch from Johannes "⁠nex⁠" Maget, and they followed that up with another round. It seemed that the Germans had finally found their footing in the game, but then Na`Vi regained control of proceedings, closing out the half with a 13-2 lead.

More misery was to come for BIG, who lost the following pistol round. With no margin for error, the German side put an M4A1 in the hands of Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş, a move that paid off as the Turkish star single-handedly won the round for the team with a quad-kill. Their recovery would be short-lived, though, as Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev would put Na`Vi on map point with a stunning ace before Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov sealed the deal with a 1v2 clutch.

BIG looked much livelier on Dust2 and had the upper hand for most of their T sided half. Na`Vi had a hard time to keep up with the pace of the German offense and were limited to just six rounds in the half.

An electroNic ace in the second pistol round marked the beginning of a phenomenal run by the Ukrainian side, who gave up just one round en route to match point. BIG still attempted a response, but their efforts were in vain as Natus Vincere quickly put the series to bed to secure their first match in Shanghai.

Before that match even started, Ninjas in Pyjamas and North had been going at it for a while on the secondary stream. Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund opened up the action on Nuke with a beautiful ace on the upper site to put the Ninjas in the lead, which would not last as North put together a string of rounds once they had money in the bank. However, the Danes were put on the back foot for the vast majority of the half as Ninjas in Pyjamas set up a very tight defense to take a 10-5 lead.

The Swedish side came out strongly from the break and immediately hit back after losing the pistol round, bringing the scoreline to 13-6. North then went on a fantastic run, winning six rounds in a row without letting their opponents plant the bomb even once, before a Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg clutch swung the game back in Ninjas in Pyjamas's favour. The rest of the map was highly contested, with a 1v2 clutch by Jonas "⁠Lekr0⁠" Olofsson at map point keeping the game from going to overtime.

On Train, North looked a completely different side from the one that had been wrecked by NRG on the first day of the competition. The Danes jumped out to an 8-1 lead on the Terrorist side before their opponents finally put their foot down and brought the deficit to just three rounds by the end of the half.

North looked sluggish and uninspired during the opening stages of the second half and allowed Ninjas in Pyjamas to turn many disadvantageous situations around. After surrendering the lead, the Danes finally woke up, losing just one round in seven to secure the map at 16-12 and take the series to Mirage.

Ninjas in Pyjamas got off to a flying start on Mirage and took a 7-2 lead on the back of a series of multi-kills by William "⁠draken⁠" Sundin, who at one point was sitting on a 15-1 score. North then picked up the pace and cut the gap to just three rounds before the end of the half, only to be dealt another heavy blow as the Ninjas ran riot after the break.

Down 7-14, North tightened up their defense in a bid to overcome the massive deficit. As rounds continuously went the Danes' way, Ninjas in Pyjamas started to feel the pressure, but the Swedes remained composed and eventually put the match to bed in the 28th round.