Cloud9 secure playoffs, NIP eliminated in Thunderpick Group A

fnatic and Virtus.pro are set to play for the other playoff spot in the group on Sunday.

Group A in the Thunderpick World Championship saw Cloud9 come out on top to secure the first spot in the playoffs and Ninjas in Pyjamas bow out of the tournament in joint-last place.

The Russian side, still playing with Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov as a stand-in following Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov's decision to step down, continued their successful run with a win over Virtus.pro.

Cloud9 came back from a 5-13 map loss on Vertigo thanks to a solid team effort overall. After Boombl4 was seen splitting AWPing duties in their opening win against fnatic, he didn't play with the Big Green much against Virtus.pro but still came up big with impact on Ancient, picking up triples in a low-buy round 9 and in a 3v5 situation in round 15.

In the elimination match earlier in the day, fnatic and Ninjas in Pyjamas clashed in what was their second encounter in three days.

The two met in the Roobet Cup group stage on Thursday with Ninjas in Pyjamas picking up the win on the back of an impressive performance from Max "⁠maxster⁠" Jansson, who has come in to stand in for the team after they benched Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin.

The same three maps came up after the veto again in their Thunderpick matchup on Saturday, but this time fnatic ended it in two.

They got off to a lead in the series through a convincing display on Ancient, powered by a near-flawless CT side and a dominant William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman. Inferno followed, where fnatic survived four match points to win the map in overtime and prevent it from going to Overpass, where they had suffered a tough defeat in the last encounter.