PGL Astana 2025sjuush shines as NIP beat Virtus.pro in Astana
The Russian team got off on the wrong foot in Kazakhstan.
Ninjas in Pyjamas passed their first test at PGL Astana 2025, defeating Virtus.pro 2-1 to move into the Swiss stage's 1-0 pool. Their win was decorated by a vintage performance from Rasmus "sjuush" Beck, who posted a series-high 1.48 rating with great showings in the second halves of all maps.
With this victory, the Ninjas have taken an important step towards their goal of climbing the ranking. They have accrued 78 VRS points off this series alone, jumping 12 places to 36th in the world standings.
The defeat is a big blow for Virtus.pro, who had entered the series confident in their chances of ending a three-match losing streak.
Playing their first official game under new head coach Ivan "F_1N" Kochugov, who replaced Pavel "PASHANOJ" Legostaev after IEM Melbourne, the Russian team looked as disjointed and lackluster as before, and even their map win came in the final round of regulation after they let a comfortable 12-6 lead slip.
The series began with Ninjas in Pyjamas winning their pocket pick of Train with a flawless CT side, where sjuush and Artem "r1nkle" Moroz combined for 18 frags in a 7-0 run.
Kaisar "ICY" Faiznurov spearheaded Virtus.pro's efforts on Dust2 with a 1.73 rating, but it was still an ugly 13-11 victory that was too close for comfort for the Russian side, who enjoyed a dominant 8-1 start but then lost their grip on proceedings.
Ninjas in Pyjamas were ahead the entire game on Ancient, where sjuush managed to get his team across the line with important multi-kills on the CT side after Virtus.pro had brought the deficit down to a single round.
 Virtus.pro |
K - D | Swing | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48 - 33 | +3.69% | 73.5 | 67.7% | 1.12 | |
| 42 - 46 | +0.57% | 68.6 | 67.7% | 0.91 | |
| 34 - 49 | -4.32% | 61.9 | 61.5% | 0.83 | |
| 36 - 43 | -2.12% | 58.9 | 67.7% | 0.82 | |
| 27 - 46 | -2.96% | 56.2 | 60.0% | 0.66 |
  Ninjas in Pyjamas |
K - D | Swing | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58 - 34 | +4.68% | 89.7 | 83.1% | 1.48 | |
| 49 - 35 | +1.63% | 83.4 | 73.8% | 1.22 | |
| 43 - 39 | +1.40% | 71.1 | 73.8% | 1.02 | |
| 36 - 38 | -0.37% | 64.0 | 72.3% | 0.99 | |
| 29 - 42 | -2.71% | 62.4 | 64.6% | 0.88 |
Pavel 'PASHANOJ' Legostaev
Richard 'Xizt' Landström
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