NIP eliminate FaZe from BLAST Groups

It is the first time in four years that FaZe will have to play the Showdown.

Ninjas in Pyjamas are through to Group C's Final at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups after a hard-fought win over FaZe. Artem "⁠r1nkle⁠" Moroz was once again the difference-maker, posting a 1.45 rating as his team came out on top of two games of fine margins, the sort of tests that FaZe used to pass with flying colors.

The Ninjas move on to face G2 on Saturday in a qualification match, while FaZe will have to battle their way through the Showdown - the first time since Fall 2020 that they will have to play this tournament.

Date	Matches
BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2024
03/08/2024	G2 18:50 Ninjas in Pyjamas	Match

FaZe's lackluster performance highlighted the lack of confidence that has seeped into their game. After the match, Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen confessed he expects IEM Cologne to be "very rough."

"We have to push through and adapt on the fly," he said. "I think, most of all, we need to wake up and look at ourselves in the mirror. It comes down to everyone pushing through. It's a mental battle now, which we used to be good at, but sometimes, things change."

He concluded: "Losing 2-0 to NIP is not good enough with the players we have."

Ancient was all about r1nkle, who racked up 31 frags (24 with the AWP, 16 more than his FaZe counterpart, Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants) to power Ninjas in Pyjamas to a hard-fought 16-14 win.

After a quiet first-half showing, David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský came alive and helped keep his team in the game, but the good old FaZe magic was nowhere to be seen as they faltered in overtime after coming back from 10-12 down.

The Slovakian carried his Ancient form into Inferno, posting 13 frags as FaZe found six rounds on the offense in a highly contested first half.

The game then descended into chaos, as mistakes became more frequent and nerves began to take hold of players. A quad-kill from Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool with a Five-SeveN breathed life into FaZe's team at a critical stage of the game, but the team wouldn't be able to capitalize on it, letting an 11-9 lead slip after a series of close exchanges.