FaZe outlast NiP to set up NAVI clash in DreamHack Masters lower final

FaZe eliminated Ninjas in Pyjamas from DreamHack Masters Spring - Europe after a close finish to a three-map battle, securing a berth in the lower bracket final to set up a clash with Natus Vincere.

The Swedes' campaign at the tournament ends after an impressive recovery from a poor start with their new in-game leader, Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser. They had lost the two opening series of the group stage but went on to scrape through to the playoffs and climb all the way to fifth-sixth place on the back of consecutive victories against ENCE, Astralis, and Vitality.

Ninjas in Pyjamas came close to making it a step further, trading picks in the FaZe series as it came down to Inferno, where the European mixture ultimately stopped the Swedish team's comeback attempt from a 7-13 scoreline with an out-of-the-blue eco round win to close the best-of-three at 16-13, 2-1.

Janko "⁠YNk⁠" Paunović's squad will next meet Natus Vincere on Friday at 14:00 in a rematch from a close encounter in the Gamers Without Borders charity event, in which the CIS-based lineup prevailed in an MR12 setting.

FaZe move on to play NAVI in the lower bracket final

With FaZe taking away one of their favorite maps, Vertigo, Ninjas in Pyjamas opted to pick Train as the first of the series and got off to a good start on the Terrorist side as Tim "⁠nawwk⁠" Jonasson and Simon "⁠twist⁠" Eliasson combined for five kills in the opening pistol. Once there were rifles available on both sides, however, Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač's team fended off the Swedes' attempts without much trouble as they won 10 out of the last 12 rounds with Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David, Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants, and Aurimas "⁠Bymas⁠" Pipiras leading the way.

The European mixture lost the second pistol, but they once again proved themselves the better team in the gunrounds. Despite giving up a free round in which they didn't plant the bomb in time in a 3v1 scenario, FaZe went on to close the map with ease at 16-9.

Mirage didn't go as planned for NiKo's squad, though, as they played their once home map for the first time with this lineup and seemed out of their depth while Ninjas in Pyjamas dominated a 10-round stretch after conceding the opening pistol round. In the end, a 6-9 half looked feasible for FaZe as they switched to the CT side, but Ninjas in Pyjamas were too hot to handle, forcing the deciding Inferno with a swift 16-8 victory.

There, Ninjas in Pyjamas looked to continue the streak after a second-round forcebuy victory gave them the momentum and a 5-1 lead, but they were stopped in their tracks by consecutive quad-kills by Bymas and NiKo and FaZe kept rolling, shutting down the rest of the half. When the Swedes couldn't capitalize on a pistol round victory they were soon down 7-13, when they caught a second wind and started to claw back into contention. However, when it looked like overtime was on the cards, FaZe surprised Ninjas in Pyjamas with a couple of crucial picks in an eco round and breathed a sigh of relief at 16-13, 2-1.

DreamHack Masters Spring 2020 - EuropeBest of 3

FaZe

Matchpage

2

1

11th June 2020

Ninjas in Pyjamas

16

Train

9

8

Mirage

16

16

Inferno

13

FaZe	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Nikola 'NiKo' KovačNiKo	66 - 49	+17	89.2	70.5%	1.31
Marcelo 'coldzera' Davidcoldzera	55 - 50	+5	79.3	74.4%	1.11
Aurimas 'Bymas' PipirasBymas	51 - 45	+6	64.2	71.8%	1.06
Helvijs 'broky' Saukantsbroky	46 - 47	-1	63.4	66.7%	0.98
Håvard 'rain' Nygaardrain	39 - 58	-19	61.1	61.5%	0.77

Ninjas in Pyjamas	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Tim 'nawwk' Jonassonnawwk	64 - 52	+12	82.4	73.1%	1.18
Hampus 'hampus' Poserhampus	50 - 56	-6	76.2	69.2%	1.01
Simon 'twist' Eliassontwist	48 - 48	0	60.1	71.8%	0.98
Fredrik 'REZ' SternerREZ	44 - 54	-10	74.6	71.8%	0.96
Nicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez ZamoraPlopski	43 - 51	-8	60.7	69.2%	0.93