NIP eliminate Liquid and secure quarter-finals spot at IEM Winter

Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner played a fantastic series to guarantee his team a spot in the playoffs.

Ninjas in Pyjamas advance to the next stage of IEM Winter 2021 after defeating Liquid 2-0. The Swedes opened up the series with a great performance on Mirage before crushing any hopes of a North American comeback on the CT side of Inferno.

Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser's squad have now qualified for the playoffs after running through the lower bracket and taking down OG and Liquid to secure a spot in the quarter-finals, where they will face the loser of Virtus.pro vs GODSENT.

On the main stream we saw Ninjas in Pyjamas battle it out against Liquid to secure the last playoffs spot from Group A. The Swedes started with a fantastic CT side as REZ tormented the North Americans, accumulating 24 frags over the course of the 10-5 half. A pistol round win was all Liquid collected in the second half as hampus's squad wasted no time in closing the game, converting a force buy before swiftly securing the advantage in the series 16-6.

The Swedes came into their map pick of Inferno with momentum on their side, winning the opening pistol and creating an early 6-0 lead that put Liquid on the back foot. The North Americans kept up the fight after settling into their CT side, only trailing 7-8 at halftime as Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski and Michael "⁠Grim⁠" Wince did everything in their power to keep their team in the game. Despite winning the pistol after switching sides, Liquid were unable to maintain a consistent challenge. Ninjas in Pyjamas strung together a six-round winning streak before closing the map 16-12 and the series 2-0.