headtr1ck powers NIP to victory over EG

The Ninjas will face Complexity in the Group A consolidation final match.

Ninjas in Pyjamas have secured victory over Evil Geniuses in the lower bracket of Group A, casting the North American team down to the Knockout Stage and setting themselves up for a rematch against Complexity, who had narrowly beaten them in their opening match.

Although the series ended in a 2-0, the maps were closer than they appear on paper. Inferno in particular was in the hands of EG on multiple occasions, with the team squandering four map points and dropping a handful of multi-man advantages to lose the map in double overtime. Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser blamed himself for the team's CT performance on Inferno in a post-match interview, saying he played like a "carrot" and that he failed to find a response at times to what EG were doing.

NIP also has Daniil "⁠headtr1ck⁠" Valitov to thank for the win, with the Ukrainian AWPer pulling off critical clutches to turn both maps in his team's favor. He pulled off a 1v3 clutch in the dying moments of Inferno and a 1v4 clutch to get his team back into the game on Vertigo, without which the series could well have gone to a third map. Ninjas in Pyjamas will have to count on him to bring a similar level as they next take on Complexity in a rematch of their opening game, in which the AWPer had mustered a 0.95 rating across three maps in a series that narrowly went the North American team's way.

Early dominance in banana helped the Ninjas establish a lead on the CT side, multi-kills from headtr1ck and Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin being the catalyst in them rocking up to a 5-1 lead. The North American team seemed set to follow in the footsteps of Complexity, who were blown out by Vitality earlier in the day, but they managed to right the ship as Paytyn "⁠junior⁠" Johnson and Jeorge "⁠Jeorge⁠" Endicott mustered strong impact on the T side. Seven of the next eight rounds went the way of EG as they snatched the lead away from their European counterparts, with hampus's side securing the final round of the half to keep the deficit between the teams at a minimum.

A pair of triple kill rounds from Timothy "⁠autimatic⁠" Ta granted Evil Geniuses control on their own CT side, helping them pull ahead 12-8. Consistent damage from Ninjas in Pyjamas in those rounds allowed them to break EG's economy, however, and the Swedish-majority side added two to their tally to bring themselves back into things, 12-10.

An eco win from Evil Geniuses in the ensuing round threw things into disarray, though, and a subsequent win allowed them to approach match point. The North American side had only themselves to blame for a squandered victory from that point as they dropped a 5v2 situation in the ensuing round, with NIP then closing the gap to 14-13. An intense round 28 saw EG attain match point as junior denied headtr1ck a 1v3 clutch, but wasn't able to do so again in the next round as the Ukrainian star gunned down three EG players to help push his team to overtime. There, the 19-year-old AWPer continued to perform, and again EG proved unable to convert two match points as NIP forced a second set of extra rounds before eventually claiming victory, 22-20.

Evil Geniuses began Ninjas in Pyjamas's Vertigo pick on much more stable footing, winning the first five rounds in a row on the CT side. It looked as if NIP's first round win wouldn't be enough to help them gain control as Evil Geniuses put up a strong response, gunning down most of their opposition in round eight, but another critical 1v4 clutch from headtr1ck completely turned the tides and helped his team get back into the map. From there, NIP ran away with the remainder of their T side, winning the rest of the rounds in the half to pull ahead 9-6 at the break.

A pistol round victory from Ninjas in Pyjamas put them in position to end things early in the second half, but a force-buy from EG allowed them to recover and steal away control. The North Americans won the next four rounds to briefly pull ahead, but couldn't crack through NIP's defenses from that point onward as hampus and company stormed to a 16-11 finish.