NIP get revenge over Complexity; advance to group final in Copenhagen

Johnny "⁠JT⁠" Theodosiou and company are relegated to the Knockout Stage with one chance left to avoid the Showdown.

Ninjas in Pyjamas locked their place in the Group A final after taking down Complexity, securing their revenge over the North American squad after their defeat on the first day of the tournament. The Ninjas will now face off against Vitality for a chance to claim a spot at the BLAST Fall Final.

This latest defeat means Complexity have to fight through the Knockout Stage if they want to avoid the Showdown. The North Americans will start their bracket journey against Astralis, who started off their season with two consecutive losses in Group B.

Date	Matches
BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023
19/07/2023	Vitality 17:45 Ninjas in Pyjamas	Match

The series began on Ninjas in Pyjamas' pick of Mirage, and despite a rocky start to their T side after conceding the pistol round, the Swedish core quickly made it clear that this was theirs to lose. Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke was on point with his usual aggressive positioning down Mid, but it was Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser who shined the brightest on the offense with a 1.72 rating and 16-9 K-D while the Ninjas cruised to a nine-round winning streak. Daniel "⁠djL⁠" Narancic's men struggled very little after their initial success and moved into the second half with a 10-5 advantage.

Complexity failed to make an immediate impact after switching to the T side, and Ninjas in Pyjamas' pistol round victory and subsequent conversion put the European squad firmly in front at 13-5. Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin came online after a quiet first half and was a pivotal piece in his team's defenses on the A site, repelling wave after wave of attacks from Complexity on his way to a 2.05 CT rating. The North Americans briefly put up a fight before Ninjas in Pyjamas closed the map 16-9.

Complexity previously outmatched Ninjas in Pyjamas on Overpass earlier in the tournament, and the North Americans came back today with an even more dominant performance. Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski had truly found his footing and led his team's offense from the front with several multi-kills and late-round frags, registering a 1.67 rating in the 10-5 half.

hampus' men struggled to find any wins during Complexity's nine-round streak and required significant individual contributions for them to find any success on the CT side. The North Americans continued to dominate after switching sides, only dropping two rounds before evening out the series score with a 16-7 win. Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner and k0nfig were severely neutralized on Overpass as they recorded 0.48 and 0.50 ratings, respectively.

Complexity started off hot on Nuke's CT side thanks to the impact found by EliGE and captain JT, but their streak quickly cooled off as Ninjas in Pyjamas settled on the offense. The Ninjas exploited the brittle defenses of the upper site to claw back at the scoreline and stole an 8-7 lead before halftime.

The second half started with a chaotic back-and-forth between the two squads as they exchanged force buys, aiming to break each other's economy and run away with the game. Complexity were the ones to come out on top and they extended their lead all the way to 15-10, but Ninjas in Pyjamas didn't give up so easily. Daniil "⁠headtr1ck⁠" Valitov locked down the late CT rounds to force overtime and give his team a lifeline.

Ninjas in Pyjamas barely came out ahead in the second set of extra rounds thanks to two incredible rounds from k0nfig and REZ who salvaged seemingly lost situations to snatch the series away from the North Americans.