EG come back to oust NiP, set up Astralis matchup in ECS semis

Evil Geniuses managed to come back from behind against Ninjas in Pyjamas in a tightly-contested series (2-1; Train 11-16, Nuke 16-14, Inferno 16-12) to advance to the playoffs in Arlington, setting up a matchup against Astralis in the semi-finals.

Coming back from a series deficit and a 5-10 scoreline on the second map, Evil Geniuses can breathe a sigh of relief after a hard-fought victory against the Swedes, who have been handed their second consecutive early exit after the recently concluded second stage of ESL Pro League Season 10.

Meanwhile, the North American side have made a confidence-boosting top-half appearance after two unsuccessful outings at two Chinese events, IEM Beijing and CS:GO Asia Championships, where they went out in 5th-6th place each time earlier in November.

The series began on Train, where EG started off the better on the offense on the back of a second-round forcebuy win, courtesy of Tarik "⁠tarik⁠" Celik and Ethan "⁠Ethan⁠" Arnold, but things soon spiraled out of control as Ninjas in Pyjamas took a stand after a couple of comfortable rounds went their way.

Evil Geniuses couldn't break through for nine rounds in a row, only managing one more while the Swedes clinched an 11-4 half and went on to secure match point without much struggle following a second pistol win. Peter "⁠stanislaw⁠" Jarguz's efforts in a poor forcebuy kicked off a respectable comeback attempt, but Ninjas in Pyjamas ultimately ended the map before it got dangerous, at 16-11.

Nuke followed with EG getting off the line first with a 3-0 lead on the T side only to drop the ball once again when it came down to the gunrounds, with Ninjas in Pyjamas looking dominant on the defense, conceding just two en route to another convincing halftime scoreline.

The five-round lead was soon gone, however, as this time the comeback began right off the bat from EG, who rallied to a 13-11 scoreline with a near-perfect defense. Individual plays kept Ninjas in Pyjamas in the map, with Jonas "⁠Lekr0⁠" Olofsson clutching a 1v2 and Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg topping it off with a flashy quad-kill, but Evil Geniuses stepped up in the last two rounds to bring the series to the third map at 16-14.

Having struggled on the Terrorist sides throughout most of the tournament, Evil Geniuses' looked in serious trouble when they started Inferno down 0-5 on the offense without ever getting close, but they managed to get back on their feet with a six-round streak as they punished Ninjas in Pyjamas's banana aggression, eventually switching over with a promising one-round lead.

Starting off 3-0 on the other half, EG extended that advantage, but Ninjas in Pyjamas did not scare easily, as a quad-kill from f0rest set off a five-round streak going the Swedish team's way. Powered by an in-form Ethan, the North American squad tightened up the defense in the late stages, answering with five in a row of their own to win the series 16-12, 2-1.