NAVI beat NiP to qualify for BLAST Premier Fall Finals

Ninjas in Pyjamas will have to wait for the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown in November for another shot at securing a spot in the Fall Finals.

Natus Vincere are through to the BLAST Premier Fall Finals after defeating Ninjas in Pyjamas in a rematch of their opening series, although this time around a new set of maps were played as the two maps picked, Overpass by Ninjas in Pyjamas and Nuke by Natus Vincere, had been banned the first time around.

Mirage, the decider map that wasn’t needed in NAVI's 2-0 opening victory, was also the last map standing in the consolidation final’s veto and where the series was eventually decided. With the Fall Series berth on the on the line, Andrey "⁠B1ad3⁠" Gorodenskiy’s men were quick to take control on the CT side, shutting down Ninjas in Pyjamas’s offensives time and time again before going on to close out the series on the offense to secure a spot at the Fall Finals.

NAVI have one more match to play, the Group A grand final against OG, for BLAST circuit points and prize money, while Ninjas in Pyjamas will now have to wait for the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown in late November to have another chance at making the Fall Finals.

Ninjas in Pyjamas rushed B in the opening round of Overpass, with Tim "⁠nawwk⁠" Jonasson taking out three players to win the first round, but three Desert Eagle kills by Egor "⁠flamie⁠" Vasilyev got NAVI on the board the following round. nawwk and Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner then turned around a 2vs4 in the first buy round to bring the score to 2-3, but NAVI were able to hold their own to keep their lead early on. The Swedes brought it back close as both teams then struggled for control going into the last round all tied up, and even took an 8-7 lead at the half.

Natus Vincere took the lead back after the first two rounds on the attack, but were again on the back foot after losing the third round to saved weapons from a forcebuy, going down 9-11. NAVI then started to lose steam, winning just one round on the attacking side as Ninjas in Pyjamas cruised to a 16-10 victory to lead the series going into NAVI’s map pick.

NAVI were first out of the gate on the attacking side of Nuke, going up 3-0 before three kills from Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser in a 2vs3 B retake got his team on the board. The CIS side then started to look very solid on the attack, finding cracks in the defense and forcing Ninjas in Pyjamas on several pistol buys on the way to a 9-3 lead. Ninjas in Pyjamas then won an all-important round defending the A site, but were unable to capitalize further and went down 4-11 at the half.

flamie took down three terrorists as NAVI extended their lead early on in the second half after the second pistol round, further bridging the gap to 14-4 as Ninjas in Pyjamas tried to forcebuy their way back into the map. NAVI hit match point two rounds later, 5-15, and although Ninjas in Pyjamas were able to cover up the scoreline with a four-round streak, two opening kills by Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev got NAVI over the line to force a decider map.

s1mple got four USP kills in an A attack by Ninjas in Pyjamas in the opening round of Mirage, after which NAVI took a 2-0 ahead of Ninjas in Pyjamas’s first buy, but the Swedes weren’t able to break the CT’s defenses as s1mple and Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov quickly made it a 5vs3. Up 4-0 electroNic found two opening kills as NAVI denied their Swedish rivals once again and it wasn’t until the ninth round that Ninjas in Pyjamas were able to get on the board, tallying just one more round before the half

Ninjas in Pyjamas kept the game going by winning the second pistol round, but were unable to gain the momentum necessary to mount a comeback as Natus Vincere closed the map out 16-4 to secure the series and qualify for the BLAST Premier Fall Finals.