NIP secure final IEM Cologne group stage spot after Imperial nail-biter

29-7-2023 00:07

A dramatic finish to a Nuke decider concluded the IEM Cologne Play-in stage as Ninjas in Pyjamas became the final team to qualify for the groups.

k0nfig put up a superb performance in the deciding series

Ninjas in Pyjamas have advanced to the IEM Cologne group stage after closing out the Play-in with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Imperial, who have been eliminated from the tournament in the process.

Following Ninjas in Pyjamas's qualification the final group stage seeding was determined and put the Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser-led squad in Group B, with an opening matchup against FaZe awaiting them on Sunday at 12:30 .

Date	Matches
IEM Cologne 2023
30/07/2023	FaZe 16:40 Ninjas in Pyjamas	Match

Ninjas in Pyjamas were made to work for their spot in the groups by the resilient Imperial squad in a chaotic series.

The Brazilians, playing their debut event with new additions Henrique "⁠HEN1⁠" Teles and João "⁠felps⁠" Vasconcellos, won a close Overpass opener off the back of Jhonatan "⁠JOTA⁠" Willian stepping up late into the match. Ninjas in Pyjamas then won a straightforward Ancient and the game came down to a nail-biting Nuke decider.

Imperial were 7-13 down at one point but then found an answer to Ninjas in Pyjamas's offense, staying a step ahead with correct stacking. As the game went late close rounds were back and forth and emotions began to run high, and a key Daniil "⁠headtr1ck⁠" Valitov 1v2 clutch with just 1 HP put the favorites on match point.

Imperial survived the final round with just pistols and sent it to overtime, where Ninjas in Pyjamas opted for a couple of fast-paced strats to pick up a flawless Terrorist half before they went on to secure their group stage spot in their first attempt on the CT side.

IEM Cologne 2023 Play-inBest of 3

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Matchpage

28th July 2023

Imperial

Overpass

Ancient

Nuke

Ninjas in Pyjamas	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Kristian 'k0nfig' Wienecke k0nfig	79 - 51	+28	89.2	74.1%	1.38
Hampus 'hampus' Poser hampus	62 - 57	+5	95.2	71.8%	1.23
Daniil 'headtr1ck' Valitov headtr1ck	53 - 47	+6	62.6	74.1%	1.06
Ludvig 'Brollan' Brolin Brollan	52 - 53	-1	68.3	74.1%	1.01
Fredrik 'REZ' Sterner REZ	42 - 47	-5	56.8	75.3%	0.97

Imperial	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Jhonatan 'JOTA' Willian JOTA	52 - 58	-6	70.5	69.4%	0.99
Vinicius 'VINI' Figueiredo VINI	54 - 59	-5	74.5	67.1%	0.99
Ricardo 'boltz' Prass boltz	48 - 55	-7	73.1	70.6%	0.98
Henrique 'HEN1' Teles HEN1	49 - 53	-4	64.4	67.1%	0.89
João 'felps' Vasconcellos felps	49 - 66	-17	70.1	52.9%	0.84

Hampus is back babyyy

2023-07-29 00:08

1 reply

Edting and breaking the chain FeelsWeirdMan

suh dude

can't kill a whiffer with 1 HP, alas

even if headtr1ck died there the round was still lost, no defuse time this millennium the only thing hen1 could do at that point is save face

2023-07-29 01:08

Great game, best game after the break. Imperial still looks good as they did in Blast, clearly the top 1 Brazilian team right now. They lost Nuke and almost lost Overpass due to some bad individual decision-making, but as a team, they looked better than Nip.

BR&NA CS LUL

2023-07-29 00:09

NIP disband already. They are nothing without Aleksib. Aleksib > NIP.

2 replies

Aleksib will fail with NAVI too once the honeymoon period wears off. He'll be gone before the CPH major, watch.

2023-07-29 00:15

Aware

2023-07-29 15:21

EZ 4 NIP was definantly not shivering my timbers whole game

That 14-14 with 1 HP on Headtrick Man ... Tough luck for Imperial.

2023-07-29 00:11

Insane game ngl

2023-07-29 00:20

time to cheer for the mongolz

they're facing Heroic as their first match in the group stage, sadge men(

2023-07-29 01:10

I am just bit scared for nip. They always do well if k0nfig gets like 30 kills per map but if he doesn't they are in big trouble. I think their roster is still way inconsistent to be considered to be a stable tier 1 team.

2023-07-29 00:26

3 replies

Totally agree. Their high is very high but their lows are extremely low. So far i'm very pleased. But most often these recent matches, it has been up to headtr1ck, k0nfig and hampus. If they are not on point, it's a loss. Headtr1ck just needs time now to settle in and grow, young player, great potential. I'm worried that Brollan and Rez won't be able to keep up, they don't seem to be able to be consistent. Worst case, switch them for two others. k0nfig is great. He seems pretty consistent. hampus, i mean the IGL putting out these kind of numbers is impressive. The only thing i worry about is the style. Seems and feels like it's mostly "make it up as we go" kind of style, and rely on individual performance and aim. It CAN work, if the players are great aimers and consistent. but top5? no. Maybe top10, or top15. The team does have great character, great attitude, very bright personalitites, i like it. Just some random thoughts.

2023-07-29 02:55

Its a great team with great potential. But too much depends on konfig w opening duels. His plays are so damn high risk. Its a 50/50 every single time. It looks wonderful when it works. But it looks so stupid, when it doesnt. Nevertheless, Its his playstyle, and i love it.

2023-07-29 11:42

Yes very high potential! You are probably right. k0nfig is a great player with great skill but, we'll see if it's asking too much of him. I am still wondering if Brollan and Rez can put out the numbers and consistency. I hope i am wrong, but i don't think they can.

2023-07-29 12:03

1 HP...

2023-07-29 00:28

k0nfig is back!

2023-07-29 00:44

Too many dumb and unnecessary peeks costed them crucial rounds, JOTA is playing on Europe for a year now he should’ve already learned how to play safe. Unfortunately it seems like BR players never learn.

2023-07-29 01:00

Despite the loss, really great game. Imperial CT kinda reminds Fúria with Vini, some mid round agression to gather info, in The 4v5 Vini solo and making The team gamble on the other site.

2023-07-29 01:09

Nip easily the better team on paper but everyone had off day except for koinfig

The best game in a while, Brazil played good CS. GG!

2023-07-29 01:23

1hp was sick

2023-07-29 01:39

k0nfig so inconsistent... but top farmer against T2 teams

2023-07-29 02:33

European fans have it, especially the NIP fan who thinks this horrible NIP team is a good team... making Imprrial a hardship with 10 days of retirement... you should be ashamed of giving a hard time to a BR team that play only in south america, you guys are horrible

2023-07-29 03:00

Cry is free

2023-07-29 07:59

Konfig is such a beast wow! There has been doubters and haters but he can carry a team

2023-07-29 04:19

Very happy that Nip made it through! But also much respect for imperial. They look good. But I don't think there is a chance that Nip will make it out of group B..

2023-07-29 04:59

imagine if Nip had 2 good players instead of bot brollan & bot rez ... it would be such a top team

2023-07-29 06:51

NiP 2-0 vitality and struggle v CoL and imperial rofl

2023-07-29 07:50

What happened to felps? I remember he was a super star, a fragging machine, a one tapper.

2023-07-29 10:28

he is a little bit depressive and it affects in his own game but i think with time and with this line up (oldschool friends) he can peek his prime again, just give time, but he needs to want more much more

2023-07-29 11:10

Thank god, akeksi is gone.

2023-07-29 11:44

We dont see a brazilian team performing well at a tournament for a long time. And even harder to find one at a final of a major tournament. Correct me if im wrong. Or this can confirm that some of the players are getting old, and its time to them hold their mouses, because lets be reallistic, being a professional playersisnt that easy.

2023-07-29 13:43