Na`Vi eliminate NiP in Katowice

Natus Vincere have secured a spot in Group A’s lower bracket final after confidently dispatching Ninjas in Pyjamas in two maps, with the Russian squad set to face either Vitality or FaZe in the next round.

Natus Vincere live to see another day at IEM Katowice after dismantling Ninjas in Pyjamas in dominant fashion, which saw the Russian squad step up to the plate following a disappointing loss to fnatic in the previous round.

Ninjas in Pyjamas opted to kick off the Group A lower bracket semi-final on Mirage in hopes of picking up an early advantage in the series, but Natus Vincere forced the Swedes to regret their veto decision immediately as Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov’s men stormed to a 7-0 lead on the CT side. A Nicolas "⁠Plopski⁠" Gonzalez Zamora triple kill earned Ninjas in Pyjamas their first round on the board, but the Russian squad refused to let up as an Ilya "⁠Perfecto⁠" Zalutskiy 1v2 clutch help extend Natus Vincere’s lead, with a commanding 13-2 scoreline soon materialising.

The tremendous deficit proved insurmountable for Ninjas in Pyjamas, who only managed a single force buy round before Natus Vincere convincingly wrapped the map up with a quad kill from Egor "⁠flamie⁠" Vasilyev. Despite many Natus Vincere players stepping up in the clutches, it was Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev who stood the tallest with a 2.07 rating come the conclusion of the map.

Now heading into their own map pick of Train brimming with confidence, Natus Vincere looked to carry over their momentum to rapidly close out the series. A fast-paced A site hit kicked off a string of three rounds for the Russian side before a Jonas "⁠Lekr0⁠" Olofsson triple kill briefly interrupted the T-side’s success.

After conceding two additional rounds, Ninjas in Pyjamas began to impose themselves on the defence to lock down consecutive rounds for the first time and level the score at 5-5. However, a moment of brilliance from flamie with a Deagle in hand snatched the lead back for Natus Vincere, with the Russians securing three of the final four rounds for a 9-6 advantage.

Ninjas in Pyjamas won the second pistol to keep the pressure on Natus Vincere, but a Perfecto quad kill in the subsequent round instantly turned the tables on the Swedish squad. Lekr0 and his troops came close on multiple occasions to responding with rounds of their own, but further clutches from flamie and Perfecto kept Ninjas in Pyjamas at bay. The Swedes eventually found some success with a trio of rounds to narrow the score difference to 10-14, but Natus Vincere refused to let their lead slip, going on to close out the map 16-10, and the series 2-0, to eliminate Ninjas in Pyjamas from the event.