GODSENT secure IEM Winter playoff berth; NIP eliminate OG

Epitacio "⁠TACO⁠" de Melo's side claimed victory over BIG in a three-map series, while Ninjas in Pyjamas dispatched of OG after battering them on a Nuke decider.

GODSENT have become the fourth team to guarantee themselves a berth to the playoffs of IEM Winter after taking down BIG in Group B, setting up an upper bracket final match against Virtus.pro to determine which team will start their bracket stage run in the semi-final.

Meanwhile, Ninjas in Pyjamas kept their tournament hopes alive after seeing off OG, coming out on top of a hard-fought series that culminated in a one-sided battle on Nuke. Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser's side will square up against Liquid on Saturday at 16:45 in the lower bracket final to determine the final team to advance out of Group A.

The match between GODSENT and BIG went the distance, although things unfolded in lopsided fashion early on in the series. A 6-0 start for the German team on Inferno gave way to a string of seven rounds from TACO's troops, but from there, the Brazilians floundered and were unable to stay in contention, earning just two more rounds on the map as BIG cruised to a 16-9 finish.

Another lead for BIG, this time in 5-2 fashion, gave way to narrow margins in the first half of Mirage, where GODSENT managed to rally back to a 7-8 scoreline. The second half was the inverse of Inferno as it was TACO's side who seized firm control, holding BIG to just four rounds as João "⁠felps⁠" Vasconcellos led the way to a 16-12 map win to force a series decider.

The trend of early leads continued on Nuke as GODSENT's strong start was answered back by BIG, who won six rounds in a row to edge out an 8-7 lead at the break, one they further extended to 11-7 after the break. However, GODSENT regained their footing once they had rifles in their hands and refused to cede control, only dropping one round as they claimed victory over the German team, 16-12.

An early 2-0 start for Ninjas in Pyjamas on OG's map pick, Inferno, dwindled in rapid fashion as Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen's men put up a strong showing on the offense, racing to an 8-3 lead. A resurgence from the Scandinavian side towards the latter portion of the first half carried through into the side swap as they won seven in a row to take control back, and although OG once again battled to keep themselves in contention, Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner and Nicolas "⁠Plopski⁠" Gonzalez Zamora helped Ninjas in Pyjamas carry through a narrow win, 16-13.

It was a similarly one-sided showing that kicked off Ancient, with OG getting off on the front foot for a second time as they demonstrated a stalwart defense, locking Ninjas in Pyjamas out well into the second half as they ran up a 13-4 scoreline. A comeback effort got underway for Ninjas in Pyjamas as they began to claw back, but the deficit proved too deep a hole to climb out of as OG were eventually able to close things out, edging out a 16-13 map win of their own.

It was Ninjas in Pyjamas's turn to seize control as the Nuke decider got underway, building an impenetrable fortress on the CT side captained by REZ and Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz that led to a 13-2 lead at halftime. Multi-kills from Nikolaj "⁠niko⁠" Kristensen and Mateusz "⁠mantuu⁠" Wilczewski helped briefly keep OG in the running, but Ninjas in Pyjamas wasted little time in claiming a victory, taking things over the line on an eco round by recovering a 3vs5 situation to take the series win.