NIP edge closer to playoffs with victory over MOUZ

The Swedes have all but confirmed a top-three spot in the group as they remain undefeated after three rounds of play.

Ninjas in Pyjamas have secured their third victory in Group A of ESL Pro League after beating MOUZ in a three-map series (Inferno 16-10, Vertigo 16-19, Mirage 16-11), edging closer to a spot in the playoffs as they remain in the lead of the first round-robin group.

In the final two matches, the currently undefeated Swedes will face the group's big underdogs Looking For Org on Saturday and a potentially Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen-less G2 on Sunday with hopes of locking down the top spot and skipping the first round of playoffs.

Despite getting off to a slow start, Ninjas in Pyjamas secured their opponents' pick, Inferno, in a controlled fashion. Losing forcebuy wars early on did little to stop the Swedish-Danish team from putting together a convincing defense, as after stabilizing economy it was clear that they had the upper hand in gunrounds, with MOUZ struggling to find openings to even get the bomb down.

After Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner's triple converted the second pistol in his team's favor, it was all but over for Christopher "⁠dexter⁠" Nong's team, and the 24-year-old's 1v2 clutch a few rounds later on the A bombsite as well as Love "⁠phzy⁠" Smidebrant's triple in a 2v4 scenario on B sealed the deal for Ninjas in Pyjamas at 16-10.

In a tense battle that went all the way to overtime on Ninjas in Pyjamas's map pick, MOUZ equalized things on Vertigo in no small part thanks to a massive performance from Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt. The European side had to overcome a resilient opponent as Ninjas in Pyjamas were trailing most of the map and came back from a 12-15 deficit, but with the Frenchman leading the way with 37 kills, they denied Ninjas in Pyjamas a victory on two maps.

It came down to Mirage, where at first MOUZ were in the driving seat with a 7-1 lead on T side but were unable to keep the lead, with Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser and REZ spearheading the comeback for the Swedes and Dane. Ninjas in Pyjamas put a stop to the onslaught to salvage the CT half with six rounds to their name in the end, and after switching over they overran their opponents on the offensive half to clinch the series at 16-11, 2-1.