NiP and Evil Geniuses proceed through Group B upper bracket

Ninjas in Pyjamas and Evil Geniuses won their opening StarSeries i-League Season 8 matches in two-map series against FURIA and 5POWER, respectively, to move on to the the upper bracket semi-final.

FURIA ran straight into yard on Train where after three opening kills they were able to plant and overwhelm Ninjas in Pyjamas to take the early lead. The Brazilians expanded it to five before Ninjas in Pyjamas started to calm the game down and tallied a few rounds of their own on the board. Down 3-5, Simon "⁠twist⁠" Eliasson was able to win a 1vs2, flick included on the last player, to defuse the bomb on A and keep the Swedes winning rounds. Having lost a lot of player during their round wins, Ninjas in Pyjamas struggled economically after FURIA scored another round, and despite losing the half to the Brazilians it was only by one round, 7-8, although it was on the defending side of Train.

Ninjas in Pyjamas won the second pistol round, taking then the following two to extend their lead to 11-8 ahead of the gun rounds, the first of which they were able to win. Ninjas in Pyjamas were unable to find a way to keep pushing their lead as FURIA brought it to a tie. An incredible ace by Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg made it 12-11, after which a change of pace by Ninjas in Pyjamas caught the B players off-guard to make it 13-11. With the momentum on their side, Ninjas in Pyjamas went on to close map one, 16-13.

Ninjas in Pyjamas carried their momentum to Nuke, where they won the first pistol round on the attacking side. After the anti-eco, they were also able to take the first gun round for a 3-0 lead. FURIA were able to win the fifth, but were immediately traded after Ninjas in Pyjamas successfully hit A. The Swedes took control with slow methodical play going up 7-1 before FURIA won a hero AWP forcebuy, but were unable to follow it up with guns. The Brazilians were only able to win two more rounds before the half, going down 4-11.

Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner managed to win a 1vs2 afterplant with two USP-S headshots to get Ninjas in Pyjamas closer to the finish line, and although FURIA delayed proceedings winning the forcebuy, any hope was stripped away from the Brazilians as Ninjas in Pyjamas won a forcebuy of their own. f0rest and company closed the series out 16-5 as FURIA looked dejected.

Evil Geniuses and 5POWER started their bout on Inferno, where the Chinese team took a 2-0 lead after winning the CT-side pistol round. That would be about it for the Chinese team as Evil Geniuses went on a rampage and started to win round after round after round not giving their Asian rivals a chance as they plowed their way to a 13-2 half. 5POWER once again won the pistol round, but this time were able to make more of a push, winning five in a row until a triple on B by Ethan "⁠Ethan⁠" Arnold gave EG their first round on the CT side. From there on out the North Americans established dominance, giving up just one round before closing it out 16-8.

Evil Geniuses lost another pistol round, this time on the T side of Dust2. They were able to win the forcebuy, however, quickly bringing it to 3-1. A triple by Peng "⁠xiaosaGe⁠" Song on B put 5POWER within one as the Chinese team came around and made it 4-3 early on before once again starting to deflate. Puffing their chests, Evil Geniuses once again showed their pedigree on the attack breaking through defenses on both sites, including Peter "⁠stanislaw⁠" Jarguz winning a 1vs2 on B to take a 9-4 lead before closing the half out 11-4. 5POWER made it four out of four pistol rounds and once again made a push to even out the scoreline, but a Vincent "⁠Brehze⁠" Cayonte powered EG were able to win the map and series, 16-10, to proceed through the upper bracket.