NiP to Group A upper final over Renegades; MVP PK send eUnited packing

Ninjas in Pyjamas have advanced to Group A's upper bracket final following a 2-0 victory against Renegades (Nuke 16-4, Mirage 16-12), while MVP PK sent eUnited packing in the lower bracket after two maps (Train 16-9, Overpass 19-17).

Over on the main stream, a match for playoffs took place between Ninjas in Pyjamas and Renegades in Group A's second upper bracket semi-final. The Swedes picked Nuke to kick off the series and it quickly began paying off, as they went on to secure a 3-0 start on the offense.

Renegades replied with two in a row when they got their hands on full weaponry, with Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage putting up a key triple in the fourth round, but the half began to slip away from them when Ninjas in Pyjamas turned around a 3v5 to clinch a forcebuy win, setting themselves up for a dominant run.

That saw Jonas "⁠Lekr0⁠" Olofsson & co. pick up an 11-4 half, which led to a quick finish to the opening map, with a pistol round and a couple of close scenarios giving Ninjas in Pyjamas a 5-0 run on the CT side.

Renegades looked to respond on their pick, Mirage, and they picked up the first pistol round as Terrorists, but Lekr0's Deagle made light work of the second round, which transpired into another dominant streak for Ninjas in Pyjamas. Unable to put the bomb down for most of the next eight rounds, Aaron "⁠AZR⁠" Ward's men finally broke through with two A executes, but it was all too little, too late, as Ninjas in Pyjamas ran away with a 12-3 half.

The two sides went back and forth at the beginning of the second half, which worked in the favor of Ninjas in Pyjamas, who reached match point at 15-6. A valiant effort saw Renegades reduce the deficit to just three rounds when it looked Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund & co. ran out of steam, but the match came to a close at 16-12, as Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner's triple finished off the job.

On the secondary stream, MVP PK and eUnited fought for survival in the first round of Group A's lower bracket, with the Korean side picking Train as the first map. Starting on the T side, Seon-Ho "⁠xeta⁠" Son's side lost the pistol, but a second-round break gave them the edge at the beginning. eUnited responded by stringing three together for a 4-3 lead, but they were unable to hold it against a good offense from the Koreans, who clinched a 9-6 half.

After switching sides, eUnited once again grabbed the pistol round and this time also managed to capitalize on it with the following two, but that was all they could do, as a seven-round streak gave MVP PK the series lead.

Overpass followed, with eUnited getting off to the better start as Terrorists, in large part thanks to two key rounds from Anthony "⁠vanity⁠" Malaspina. Although Hyun-Pyo "⁠XigN⁠" Lee's team were at one point trailing 2-6 on the defense, they turned it around with a 6-1 run to end the half with a one-round advantage.

eUnited were in the driving seat once they got away with another good start, but the Korean side once again fought back in the latter portion of the half, turning around an 8-13 deficit to take the match to overtime. There, MVP PK finished off the North American team 19-17.