Grayhound relegate NIP to last chance bracket

The majority-Australian side recovered from a 2-16 drubbing on their map pick.

Grayhound defeated Ninjas in Pyjamas in the lower bracket semi-final of ESL Pro League S17 with a 2-1 scoreline. The European combine came out of the gates swinging on Ancient (16-2) but followed that up with a loss on Vertigo (9-16). The decider was Mirage, where Grayhound closed out the victory with a 16-12 win.

"We showed to ourselves we can play a lot smarter and better in the mid rounds against European teams," reflected Simon "⁠Sico⁠" Williams on their upset. Declan "⁠Vexite⁠" Portelli shared the sentiment, saying "we know what we have inside of us, then it's just about performing and trusting each other."

Grayhound have now qualified for the lower bracket final, where they will play against paiN on Saturday at 16:00 . The winner of that game will secure a playoff spot, something very few people expected coming into Group C.

Ninjas in Pyjamas meanwhile drop down to the last chance bracket and require two wins to make it through the group stage. Their first challenge comes against OG on Saturday at 19:30 .

Ninjas in Pyjamas started Ancient on the CT side and comfortably stopped a B rush in the pistol round to take an early lead. They converted it to a 5-0 lead before Grayhound finally tested their resolve, but Daniil "⁠headtr1ck⁠" Valitov rescued his team with a smoke defuse. Ninjas in Pyjamas's domination was massively helped by wonderful utility usage, stifling the Grayhound T side before they were ready to hit a site.

With the scoreline at 10-0, Alistair "⁠aliStair⁠" Johnston got his first AWP of the half and found a triple-kill to get his team on the board, but his highlight did little to turn the tide. Grayhound found just one more round and went into their defense 2-13 down. The majority-Australian team lost the must-win pistol round which cemented their loss, dropping their map pick 2-16. Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke, who struggled for form in the opening months of his Ninjas in Pyjamas career, had a fabulous map, putting up 140 ADR and a 2.01 rating.

The next map of the series was Ninjas in Pyjamas's pick of Vertigo, and the Ninjas had the wind in their sails after a commanding victory on Ancient. They showed some overconfidence in the opening exchanges with some overzealous peeks, soon finding themselves 5-1 down. k0nfig crept through Middle in the next and found an opening on the A site to deliver his team's second, which forced Grayhound onto an eco. That did little to help NIP put together a decent T side, however, as they labored their way to a 4-11 half.

Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen hit some crisp shots in the first pistol round to give his team a chance at a comeback, reducing the disadvantage to four rounds. The next rounds were back-and-forth, and Ninjas in Pyjamas got close in an eco round, only for a crucial whiff by Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner to cost them. That put the map out of their reach, eventually falling 9-16 and moving the series to a third map.

Grayhound were the first to strike on Mirage, leading through the opening seven rounds, 6-1, powered by Vexite's 13 kills. Their red-hot defense eventually cooled off and Ninjas in Pyjamas started to come back into the game and tied up the scores at 7-7. A Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin triple secured the final round in their favor, meaning they went into the defense ahead by the slimmest of margins.

Ninjas in Pyjamas won another second-round forcebuy to go 11-8 up, looking like they finally tamed their underdog opponents. That proved to be far from the truth, as Grayhound came back and tied up the scores after Vexite's kill in the last second of the round. They took that momentum and ran away with the game, shouting their way to a 16-12 win and a spot in the lower bracket final against paiN.