NIP defeat OG, advance to BLAST Fall Finals playoffs

Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković's team has been eliminated from the Danish LAN without a map win to their name.

Ninjas in Pyjamas secured a spot in the BLAST Premier Fall Final quarter-finals after taking down OG 2-0 in Group A's lower bracket. The squad led by Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen barely came out ahead on Ancient (22-19) after two sets of overtime before sealing the victory on the CT side of Vertigo (16-10).

Today was the first time these two squads faced off since their semi-final match at Dubai Esports Tour 2022 in the summer, which Ninjas in Pyjamas also won. The Swedish core's victory today means they will face the loser of Natus Vincere vs Liquid in the first round of playoffs on Friday at 19:00 .

Ninjas in Pyjamas came back with an improved defensive performance on Ancient against OG after a poor display against HEROIC on the first day. Aleksib and company failed to build on their pistol round victory, but quickly recovered as Patrick "⁠es3tag⁠" Hansen's double kill on the A bombsite with the Five-SeveN allowed the Swedish core to retake the momentum and create a 9-3 lead. OG struggled to crack the Ninjas in Pyjamas defenses, and only stole two more rounds before switching sides with a 5-10 scoreline.

nexa's men kickstarted the second half in good form with a pistol round win before claiming a five-round winning streak, which put the European squad level with Ninjas in Pyjamas at 11-11. Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan and Abdul "⁠degster⁠" Gasanov came alive after switching to the CT side, but their performance was not enough to prevent Ninjas in Pyjamas from edging the last necessary rounds to force overtime.

Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner played two fantastic sets of extra time and consistently found impact with the AWP as Ninjas in Pyjamas fought their way to a 22-19 victory.

The Ninjas opened up their map pick of Vertigo by taking the first two rounds, but they failed to build on their early success. It did not take long for OG to respond as flameZ and Adam "⁠NEOFRAG⁠" Zouhar powered the defense to a five-round streak which set up the European mix for an 8-7 finish. The Czech rifler topped the scoreboard at halftime with a 1.21 rating and 108.9 ADR.

es3tag gifted Ninjas in Pyjamas their third pistol round of the series after taking down four OG members on the B site. The early momentum allowed the CTs to string seven rounds in a row as the offense struggled to maintain their economy in shape. nexa's men only stole two rounds on the T side before Ninjas in Pyjamas closed the match with a 16-10 scoreline.

OG's defeat today means they are eliminated from the event, denying their last chance to possibly make the BLAST Premier World Final in December. The European mix currently has no tournaments scheduled until 2023, meaning they played their last LAN series of the season.