9 Pandas, BetBoom, AMKAL move on to 1-1 pool

The first of the 0-1 matches featured two stomps and an incredibly messy triple OT brawl.

9 Pandas, AMKAL, and BetBoom have laid claim to the first victories of the 0-1 pool in PGL Major Copenhagen Europe RMR A, besting their respective opponents of 9 Pandas, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and Into the Breach to notch their first wins. The three Russian sides are now the first to populate the 1-1 pool, while SAW, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and Into the Breach will need to prepare to fight for their tournament lives tomorrow in their 0-2 matches.

9 Pandas recovered from their lackluster start to the day versus FaZe, where the squad only notched six rounds, with a very convincing win over Portuguese side SAW. Daniil "⁠d1Ledez⁠" Kustov starred with a 2.35 rating as 9 Pandas put up a nearly flawless T side on Anubis, with SAW snatching only the final round of the half to avoid a 0-13 loss.

Inspired by 9 Pandas' dominant win over SAW, BetBoom showcased a similarly one-sided performance versus Into the Breach to lay claim to their first victory of the RMR. Powered by a 2.11 rating from Pavel "⁠S1ren⁠" Ogloblin, BetBoom put together a 13-1 scoreline of their own to move on to the 1-1 pool with ease.

AMKAL's match versus Ninjas in Pyjamas proved to be much more hotly-contested than the first two 0-1 games, although it was relatively poor quality Counter-Strike overall. Despite losing the first pistol round, Ninjas in Pyjamas managed to deny AMKAL's conversion, before the Russians ran away with the rest of the half, snagging a dominant 10-2 scoreline as they prepared to switch to the T side.

AMKAL snatched the second pistol round, looking poised to close things out with ease, but Ninjas in Pyjamas were not content to just roll over without a fight. The European side put together a strong defense of their own, allowing only one more round to be claimed by Ninjas in Pyjamas before dragging the map into overtime.

Just one overtime was not enough to decide things, as the BO1 was quickly brought into a second and then a third overtime. After all six rounds of the third OT were played out, a victor finally emerged, with AMKAL ultimately coming out on top with a 22-20 scoreline to send Ninjas in Pyjamas to the 0-2 pool.