FaZe dismantle NIP en route to EPL playoffs

9-3-2023 21:39

Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen says FaZe have practiced for a month straight and it's showing so far at ESL Pro League.

FaZe have advanced to the ESL Pro League Season 17 playoffs after dismantling Ninjas in Pyjamas 2-0 in the Group C upper bracket semi-finals (Overpass 16-9, Ancient 16-3).

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 17
10/03/2023	Ninjas in Pyjamas 20:20 Grayhound	Match
12/03/2023	Vitality 16:45 FaZe	Match

karrigan and company are set on a collision course with Vitality next on Sunday for a direct berth to the quarter-finals. Ninjas in Pyjamas have been relegated to the lower bracket of the triple elimination format, where they'll first face the winner of 00NATION vs. Grayhound on Friday.

FaZe are yet to be tested at ESL Pro League

If you went to watch the series and expected a close fight, you'd probably come away disappointed, as there was no point in the series where Ninjas in Pyjamas looked like they have a chance. FaZe turned up in great form and had all their stars come online when they needed to, and even the more typically silent karrigan had his flashy moments, especially with the AUG on the CT side on Overpass.

On the first map, the in-game leader helped turn around a 2v3 in round five and a 1v1 clutch a few rounds later to keep momentum firmly in FaZe's hands. Otherwise, it was all about Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool, who finished just three kills shy of a 30-bomb in a dominant victory, where only the first few rounds of the second half made it look like less of a landslide than it was.

"I can't remember the last time we had so much practice in the team," karrigan said after the match. "Coming into this tournament we are very comfortable on any map. I'm happy we got to play Overpass, it's a map we have been working on and statistically it has been a shaky map for us. I didn't expect it to be that easy, but I expected a good result for us."

And it was just more of the same on Ancient. Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard's 1v2 clutch stopped Ninjas in Pyjamas's successful start in its tracks in round three and from there FaZe took over the game. When some opportunities presented themselves for Ninjas in Pyjamas, FaZe's sheer firepower beat them back, another 12-3 half went their way, and this time they closed the map without any issues just four rounds later.

ESL Pro League Season 17Best of 3

FaZe

Matchpage

9th March 2023

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Overpass

Ancient

FaZe	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Robin 'ropz' Kool ropz	44 - 23	+21	104.2	81.8%	1.58
Helvijs 'broky' Saukants broky	38 - 20	+18	83.2	79.5%	1.44
Håvard 'rain' Nygaard rain	36 - 27	+9	88.9	77.3%	1.38
Finn 'karrigan' Andersen karrigan	29 - 24	+5	77.4	81.8%	1.24
Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken Twistzz	23 - 21	+2	56.2	77.3%	1.01

Ninjas in Pyjamas	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Kristian 'k0nfig' Wienecke k0nfig	24 - 34	-10	76.8	65.9%	0.93
Daniil 'headtr1ck' Valitov headtr1ck	28 - 32	-4	58.7	63.6%	0.84
Ludvig 'Brollan' Brolin Brollan	25 - 35	-10	61.0	43.2%	0.64
Fredrik 'REZ' Sterner REZ	19 - 35	-16	59.0	61.4%	0.62
Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen Aleksib	18 - 35	-17	57.5	54.5%	0.61

Unlucko

2023-03-09 21:40

top 10 team btw according to esports "duncan" shields

2 replies

Who?

2023-03-09 23:33

lmao who cars about that weirdo

2023-03-09 23:55

No aleksib slander guys

rooster did better than nip... kekw

this event is so bad, trash format, Group B boring as fk, and group C is a cemetery

2023-03-09 21:42

13 replies

lmaooo yeah ! - taking 4 weeks what shouldve been 2 - triple elimination = humiliation - 60% downtime - ""talents"" showing off their high quality interviewing skills - kindergarten games and clips between matches - they ALL look bored AF at least they get some money for acting like fools on broadcast. the casual setting works only for short events like summit imo. CSGO event management probably the worst in esports, i reckon.

2023-03-09 22:04

12 replies

the point is to drag it out dummy

2023-03-09 22:32

1 reply

Yeah? That means it is bad. Doesn't mean it is good when you know what they are doing

2023-03-10 07:00

Pro League has always been a long tournament. And I actually like this format more than the boring round-robin used before. The action should pick up in the playoffs, looking forward for some banger matches in a few weeks.

ofc its personal preference, cant argue with that. for me it feels like im waiting about a week on 3 or 4 actual games i'd really like to see for a specific group, and thats just too little. i always really appreciated summit for that casual feeling, it just fitted the whole event, but the way the downtime broadcasts are filled on Malta is just downright infantile.

this! idk whats going on this casual attempt is no more than an anxious attempt, nothing casual about it really. it's stiff and dumb. nerf guns? really? I mean really? my nephew is 5 and shoots nerf guns. maybe I should move on. CSGO seems to be for kids nowadays. one good thing tho is ESL bringing in Lucy. these boys are getting too comfortable. maybe a little feminine presence will get those slackers going (biology). (i'm not hating on every individual working on this "new/interesting" production but things are kinda pathetic at times) _rant_over_CYA

2023-03-09 22:46

yeah Lucy seems to be handling these guys well, although i fear for her well being outside of the broadcasts 🤔

2023-03-09 23:58

Don't like the show and casting Style either. But it's supposed to be a drawn out event. It's literally called league. The alternative would be either a longer break between events or an overcrowded calender like 5 years ago

2023-03-09 23:35

4 replies

yeah ofc i know that its supposed to be drawn out like this. and i think it sucks. having a league is definitely a good thing, but like i said in #18 they shouldve done a better job than this. it seems like the management said: "just fill in approx 4 hours of daily downtime" and the ""talents"" planned half a day to brainstorm, wrote down all the ridiculous ideas they could come up with, and we are witnessing their 'inspiration' now. As it turns out, the average ""talent"" appears to have severe lack of creativity and most likely brain cells. i dont really watch LoL events anymore, but those broadcasts just seem more professional and well organized. watching this part of EPL makes me feel like CSGO is still very amateuristic, and this League is filled for 50% with garbage teams. in another thread a user said this part of the event should be held online, and i agree on that. The playoffs should be held on a real stage in a real arena.

2023-03-10 00:10

3 replies

It's good that it's on Lan, the "hosts" just suck ass, and ESL is incredibly lazy, and has either incompetent workers or uninspired ones

2023-03-10 00:49

imo LAN events should be arena worthy, this just doesnt cut it.

2023-03-10 01:00

Makes no sense. LAN in Studio is vital to the integrity of the sport. There shouldn't be a single Top 15 team ever playing an official online

2023-03-10 17:46

"CSGO event management probably the worst in esports, i reckon." Tune into an Overwatch League match. It'll be really fun, I promise.

2023-03-10 06:30

most expected match

2023-03-09 21:44

Just go back to all Swedish side.. nothing has been better since the switch

2023-03-09 21:53

6 replies

Sweden is completely baron of any relevant talent. REZ, Krimz and maybe Brollan if he ever recovers to his best form are honestly the only Swedes that can be in a top 10 team right now. hampus is retiring from CS, former Fnatic are struggling at tier 3. All of the NiP academy players are average at best and have looked nowhere near prepared for T1 competition.

2023-03-09 22:30

Bullshit. Nilo and Joel are definitely ready for T1 scene. I don't think you know a lot besides T1 scene.. NIP could have a decent team with Hampus, Nilo, Joel, Brollan and a IGL. There ain't any good Swedish IGLs though.

2023-03-09 23:45

You are right about Joel I completely forgot about him, and I'm not as familiar with Nilo. I wouldn't count on Hampus playing again.

2023-03-10 04:36

Not true. Nip's start with Aleksib was actually really promising. The non-Swedes on that team are better than any Swedes who would be available. No shame in losing to Faze.

2023-03-09 22:37

I don't think the individuals are better or worse. Chemistry wise though and result wise the team are def looking worse. They hade a good spell with AleksiB in the beginning sure, but they had good spells with.the swedish rosters as well. Joel on AWP and Hampus back as IGL. Es3tag as support. It would be a better team for sure. Draken or Nawwk is also on Headtricls level.

2023-03-10 06:33

I think the problem here is that if you are going back to an all-Swedish roster then you will be locking yourself in to that. Sure, Joel could be a great addition, but otherwise I do not see the roster you suggested outperforming the current one. It’s just not a trophy-winning lineup. And going domestic means that your options with respect to future roster changes will just be arbitrarily limited.

2023-03-10 10:30

I'm fully expecting NiP to struggle with or even lose that GRH/00N game

2023-03-09 21:54

ESL Pro League doesnt feel the same anymore I dont like the new format at all

2023-03-09 21:55

nip looking shaky, they are so insconsistent

2023-03-09 22:09

Get fckin dismantled kiddos

2023-03-09 22:26

' en route ' OKAY HLTV , I SEE YOU

2023-03-09 22:28

i hecking love faze era

2023-03-09 22:29

Guess who's back, back again, ropz is back, tell a friend

2023-03-09 22:33

ratz the estonian eco hero 🤣🤣

2023-03-10 00:13

All baiters except rain according to karrigan

2023-03-10 07:40

Rooster did better

2023-03-10 02:17

Alexibot for a reason

2023-03-10 03:53

-Aleksi +hampus NIP learn from G2 and don`t let your team get destroyed.

2023-03-10 04:43

feels bad for headtr1ck honestly, he has such high expectations but his team is just trash. rez "star player" for the last 6 years still cant play decent 2 games in a row brollan is just washed since leaving fnatic dont know why didnt get to watch so i cant say aleksi called bad or not but it doesnt look good xd k0nfig honestly seems alright from what i seen

2023-03-10 05:01