NIP through to IEM Winter semi-finals over GODSENT

The Swedes rallied in the decider, Ancient, after trading map picks with GODSENT.

Ninjas in Pyjamas have survived the first round of the IEM Winter playoffs, ending GODSENT’s cinderella story in the quarter-finals to secure a spot in the semis, where they will now face the top seed in Group A, G2, who qualified directly to the second round of the bracket.

The Swedes kicked the series off with a 16-10 win on GODSENT’s map, Nuke, setting up a possible sweep going into Overpass, but a lackluster terrorist side saw the Brazilians smash their way back into the series with a resounding 16-8 win on Ninjas in Pyjamas's pick.

After Ninjas in Pyjamas claimed victory on Ancient, 16-8, it was Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser and Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz who ended up the highest-rated players in the series, as well as on Nuke and Ancient, with the Swedish in-game leader averaging a 1.22 rating and the Danish AWPer following close behind with a 1.20.

Ninjas in Pyjamas and GODSENT went at it on Nuke to kick things off, with the Nordic team’s Danes, device and Patrick "⁠es3tag⁠" Hansen, putting in work on the defense to get the Ninjas in the lead early on despite giving up the pistol round. Solid defenses ended up in Ninjas in Pyjamas hitting double digits, closing the first half out 11-4.

After a slow start on the attack Epitacio "⁠TACO⁠" de Melo and company won five of the first six rounds on the defense to hit double digits, threatening a dominating side before the Swedish-Danish squad kicked into overdrive with hampus putting on a display with four multi-kill rounds in a row to lead his team to a 16-10 victory.

Going into Ninjas in Pyjamas’s map pick of Overpass it was actually GODSENT who were able to assert their will early on, getting off to a flying start on the defense with all five players firing on all cylinders to take a commanding 13-2 lead by half time.

Ninjas in Pyjamas won the crucial second pistol round, on the CT side, to stay alive in the map and keep their hopes of winning the series in two maps alive, slowly but surely adding rounds to the scoreboard while threatening a comeback in the early stages of the second half. But as Ninjas in Pyjamas did on Nuke, it was now GODSENT who found the key on the attack to win four consecutive rounds, making it 16-8, and tie the series up.

It was Ninjas in Pyjamas on the CT side who took the first pistol round on Ancient, but GODSENT hit right back hitting the B site effectively in their second-round half buy. Neither team was able to take control, however, and for the first time in the series the two teams started neck and neck until a device-powered Ninjas in Pyjamas took six of the final seven rounds to lead 10-5.

Björn "⁠THREAT⁠" Pers’s men took the second pistol round to inch closer to victory, following it up twice ahead of the first proper gun round, 13-5. GODSENT won a critical gun round to stay in the series, but Ninjas in Pyjamas won a pistol buy after losing several rounds in a row to make it 14-8, maiming the CT economy after which they hit match point. Ninjas in Pyjamas then closed out the map 16-8 to bag the series and earn a spot in the semi-finals.