fnatic crush Aurora, NIP secure first win in Malta

fnatic wasted no time in getting their first win on the board, while Ninjas in Pyjamas managed to edge out Astralis to go 1-0 in Malta.

Ninjas in Pyjamas and fnatic joined the 1-0 pool at the IEM Road to Rio Europe RMR with respective victories over Astralis and Aurora, the two teams now preparing for their next matchups, which start on Wednesday.

Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen had a fantastic debut for his new squad, with the Finnish captain putting up a 1.37 rating and 24-20 K-D in his first game donning a Ninjas in Pyjamas jersey. Similarly, Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser impressed in his first game away from the in-game leadership role, dropping 30 kills and averaging a 1.68 rating. Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner was unable to find his groove as he transitions into his new role wielding the AWP, stating in his post-game interview that "it [the role switch] has been going well in practice, we just know that we have to show it in officials."

Astralis will look to shrug off this opening defeat as they look to qualify for the IEM Rio Major without Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke, who is currently out of action as he nurses a "complicated ankle fracture." His replacement, Mikkel "⁠MistR⁠" Thomsen, struggled in his call-up to the main squad, only averaging a 0.75 rating, while also having the joint-lowest amount of frags in the server (11).

fnatic got off to a flying start on the CT-side of Overpass, with the European mix all chipping in with seven or eight frags apiece to power the side to a 7-1 lead. fnatic's dominance didn't let up as the half continued, a stalwart defense by William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman and company allowing the black-and-orange to post a near-flawless 14-1 CT-side by the end of the opening half.

Aurora got back in the game with a pistol-round victory to kick off the second half, the Russian-majority roster using this to bring the score back to 4-14. Regardless, fnatic's overpowering lead proved far too steep for Aurora to overcome, a clutch by mezii putting his team on match point before the European side successfully converted a clean B-site execute to lock in the map 16-4.

Astralis and Ninjas in Pyjamas battled it out on Nuke for their chance at ending the first day of competition with a 1-0 record. The two teams exchanged a flurry of rounds back-and-forth to kick things off, with the scoreline being 4-4 by the midpoint of the half. Ninjas in Pyjamas were quick to run away things in spite of the close start, however, adding seven rounds from eight to end their CT-side 10-5 up.

The Danes had a strong start to their CT-side once the second half rolled around, reaching double digits to tie the score, 10-10. Ninjas in Pyjamas soon got back on the saddle, though, nabbing five rounds on the bounce to reach match point, 15-10. A two-round spree by Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander's men only served to delay the inevitable from here on out, with the Swedish-majority side marching onto the A site in the 28th round to close things out 16-12 and move to the 1-0 pool.