NIP and Vitality start Katowice groups with victories

Gambit and MOUZ have dropped to the lower bracket of Group A.

The second set of group stage games of IEM Katowice 2022 saw the Swedes of Ninjas in Pyjamas take down Gambit 2-1 while Vitality earned their own victory after a 2-1 win over MOUZ. The victors have set themselves in pole position to claim a spot in the playoffs, with only one best-of-three match standing between them and the chance to play in the Spodek Arena.

The CIS youngsters of Gambit started their adventure in Poland on the back foot, dropping to the lower bracket of Group A despite coming in as favorites against an Ninjas in Pyjamas team missing their star AWPer. Meanwhile, the new Vitality continue their good run of form after taking down MOUZ, a squad that had just come out of a rock-solid performance in the Play-In stage.

Ninjas in Pyjamas struggled to get going on the T side of their own pick of Ancient, allowing their opponents to gain a very comfortable 11-4 lead. While Patrick "⁠es3tag⁠" Hansen failed to find impact on the offense, both Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov and Timofey "⁠interz⁠" Yakushin shined for the CIS squad, combining for 33 frags in the first half.

Switching sides allowed the Swedes to give Gambit a taste of their own medicine, shutting down the CIS offense from the very start. Ninjas in Pyjamas only dropped two rounds on their way to complete a remarkable comeback, closing the map 16-13. After a frustrating T side, es3tag redeemed himself with an improved performance on the defense, allowing the Ninjas to take the early 1-0 lead in the series.

Gambit were able to come back on their own pick of Vertigo, completing their offensive half 9-6 ahead thanks to an inspiring Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov performance. Despite Ninjas in Pyjamas winning both pistol rounds and converting the follow-ups, they struggled to really establish themselves in the game. Gambit took the map 16-11 after a four-round winning streak and an exemplary performance from Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov on the CT side.

The decider of Overpass quickly fell into the hands of Ninjas in Pyjamas as they took the pistol round and an early 4-0 lead following a 1v3 clutch from Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner. It took a while before Gambit were able to start performing on the CT side, but they closed the half with three consecutive rounds, limiting their halftime deficit to 7-8. Despite coming into the offensive with momentum on their side, the CIS squad found itself unable to get going and Ninjas in Pyjamas took advantage of that. The Swedes strung together seven rounds in a row to claim match point at 15-7 despite HObbit's best efforts to stop them. Shortly afterward, Ninjas in Pyjamas swiftly secured the map 16-8, and the series 2-1.

Ninjas in Pyjamas will face Virtus.pro in the upper bracket semi-finals on Friday at 19:30 , the winner of which will secure themselves a spot in the Spodek Arena. At the same time, Gambit will fight Copenhagen Flames for tournament survival.

The second series started on MOUZ's pick of Vertigo and it was a treat to watch. The early advantage gained from a pistol round win for Christopher "⁠dexter⁠" Nong's team quickly turned for the worse as Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut began making his presence known on the server. Despite Vitality quickly regaining the lead, MOUZ were never far behind, and thanks to a Tec-9 2v4 win on round 11, they were able to end the half with a slight 8-7 advantage.

The second half was equally as competitive, with both teams taking turns leading the game for short periods of time. Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt kept pestering his old side, topping his team's scoreboard thanks to some great performances on both halves. Meanwhile, ZywOo's nuclear form landed him a 34-15 K-D in regulation, by far the best in the server. Vitality had the chance to close out the map at 15-14 against a rough buy from MOUZ, but a solid B hold from NBK- and a dexter flank forced the French-Danish mix into overtime.

Extra time saw both teams constantly exchange rounds, with neither able to string together a streak, leading to the second set of overtime rounds. From there, it was Vitality who came out victorious with a 22-19 scoreline after a few solid offensive plays.

Inferno started just where Vertigo left off. Vitality's early advantage following the pistol round quickly disappeared once the MOUZ rifles started coming out, allowing the European mix to take a 4-3 lead. Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire and co. responded with five consecutive rounds and were set to walk away with the half until a B hold from David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský and NBK- put an end to their streak. From there, the youngsters of MOUZ claimed the last three rounds, only trailing 7-8 before switching sides.

MOUZ started off the second half in great form, equalizing the score after the pistol and easily creating a 13-8 advantage. A great B retake from Vitality on round 22 stopped the bleeding and kickstarted their resurgence, culminating with apEX forcing overtime with a 1v1 clutch. However, this time MOUZ did not waste their second chance to take the map and equalized the series with a 19-17 victory.

Unlike the first two maps, Nuke was a much shorter affair. Vitality pulled a near-flawless 14-1 CT side as apEX and ZywOo topped the scoreboard. Jon "⁠JDC⁠" de Castro really struggled on the decider, failing to get a single frag across the first half as the whole team failed to get going on the offensive. Despite MOUZ looking much better after moving to the CT side, the deficit was too large to overcome, with Vitality eventually coming out victorious after a chaotic post-plant on the B site.

Vitality are see to face HEROIC on Friday at 16:00 while MOUZ join OG in the first round lower bracket, set to be played at the same time.