NIP hand BIG second BLAST Spring Groups defeat

Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner took over the server on Inferno to gift Ninjas in Pyjamas the series.

Ninjas in Pyjamas survived their first match in the lower bracket of BLAST Premier Spring with a victory over BIG, extending their stay in Group C for at least two more days. The European squad narrowly took the Germans' map pick of Mirage (16-14) before securing the 2-0 win on Inferno (16-11) thanks to a solid performance from REZ.

Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen's men will now challenge Natus Vincere on Wednesday at 15:00 for the last spot in their group final, where a slot at the Spring Final will be on the line. The CIS squad was the one that sent Ninjas in Pyjamas to the lower bracket in their opening match, and now the Europeans have the chance to get revenge over Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev and company.

BIG were relegated to the lower bracket by an 0-2 defeat at the hands of G2, but their latest loss does not put them out of contention just yet. The Germans can still secure their spot at Spring Final with two best-of-three wins in the gauntlet stage, but any additional defeats will send them straight to the Showdown.

BIG kicked off their T side on Mirage in red-hot form, initially crushing Ninjas in Pyjamas with little resistance on their way to an early 5-0 lead while Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin and REZ struggled to find any success. The European mix took a few rounds to get going, but once they survived their first B-site hold, a stream of eight consecutive victories followed as Ninjas in Pyjamas comfortably cruised to an 8-5 lead.

Johannes "⁠tabseN⁠" Wodarz and company stole back the momentum late in the half and carried their form into the first handful of rounds of their CT side, bringing the match all the way to the 30-round mark. Ninjas in Pyjamas didn't falter under pressure, however, and a Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser double-kill with the Deagle gifted his team entry to the B site to win the last round and secure a 16-14 victory.

BIG continued their flawless pistol round record on Inferno and claimed a brief 2-0 lead over Ninjas in Pyjamas on the CT side. The European combine bounced back once they brought out the rifles and quickly took a 7-3 lead as REZ began to fire on all cylinders. The Swedish rifler had a relatively quiet first map, but came alive on Ninjas in Pyjamas's pick, registering a 1.93 rating and picking up two or more kills in five rounds.

tabseN and company executed another great pistol round, but they were unable to build on their early offensive success as Ninjas in Pyjamas cruised to six consecutive round wins to claim map point. REZ continued to perform on the CT side and powered his team to a 16-11 victory to close the series with a 2-0 score.