NiP wins THOR Open 2012

NiP has remained undefeated in CS:GO as they've scored two close wins over Curse (16-13 de_nuke_ve, 16-11 de_dust2_se) to win THOR Open 2012. Lemondogs clinched the third place 2-0 over Anexis.

The grand final started on de_nuke_ve where Robin "Fifflaren" Johansson clutched NiP the opening counter-terrorist side pistol round. Curse managed to win round four, but the Swedes broke their money right after, going up 5-1.

NiP stopped Curse's upper execution right after as well, but Niko "naSu" Kovanen scored the second round for the Finns, who then won the next round with a quick ramp rush, cutting their deficit to 3-7.

Curse then executed another slow strategy towards upper, and after two kills from Aleksi "allu" Jalli, they forced NiP to save. Richard "Xizt" Landström's three kills on a save round brought NiP close, but Curse made it 5-7 nonetheless.

NiP looked to be losing another mid round situation, but Adam "friberg" Friberg's three M4A4 kills bailed NiP out. NiP then won the following round convincingly, before taking down a weak Curse buy to make it 10-5.

NiP read Curse's strategy properly on the terrorist pistol round, but were unable to get the bomb planted on the lower site. They then attempted a force buy on the second round, but were again shut down, this time in upper.

NiP looking bummed out during the first map 

Timo "reflex" Rintala's MAG7 frags won his team the next two rounds as he scored three and two frags, albeit against a saving NiP team on the first, and after a big scare due to questionable plays.

Curse went up in a four-on-two once again, but over aggressiveness once again cost them members, and this time a round as Jonas "ScurK" Finnilä was unable to win a one-on-one versus Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg who completely outsmarted him.

NiP then attempted a hit towards upper from outer, but were completely shut down, only scoring a single frag as Curse reset their money and tied the game at eleven after a save round from NiP.

Jalli scored two entry frags on the next round, but reckless pushes from Rintala and an easy missed kill from Joona "natu" Leppänen put NiP back in the driver's seat, with them leading 12-11 and Curse on the brink of bankruptcy.

Next round saw Curse once again be in a good position to win the round, but their players kept pushing for no reason which once again cost them the round and forced them on a save to make it 11-14.

Curse's naSu glancing over at his teammates 

The Finns stayed alive thanks to Kovanen's two M4A4 kills on the next round, a feat re-enacted by Leppänen right after to make it 13-14 in the Ninjas', for whom the clock ran out, favor.

Jalli cost Curse the next round as he was so unaware of outside he didn't check it once for over fifteen seconds, allowing himself to get shot in the back. In the last round NiP attacked upper for a 16-13 win.

Second map de_dust2_se started with Curse picking apart NiP on the pistol round. The Swedes tried to win an early buy with a Scout and MAG7 but to no avail, as Curse went up 3-0.

Those purchases didn't leave NiP with enough money for the fourth round, and they weren't able to win it, going down 0-5 after another save round. Curse kept playing well, and once again took out NiP's defense on the sixth round.

NiP then won two straight rounds before Curse came back with one of their own. The ninjas then won three more rounds, one of them with a defuse they barely got before Finnilä's final kill of the round.

With their lead now cut to just 7-5, the former Hawks squad fought back to win the next two rounds, one of them a save from NiP. Last round saw Rintala win a big one-on-three from the pit, closing the half at 10-5.

HeatoN's NiP stays undefeated at CS:GO 

Curse's aggressive push up middle looked to be winning them the second pistol round, but they were once more unable to protect a numbers advantage as they left players alone by themselves, allowing NiP to take them out.

First gun round saw NiP take out the A bombsite defense of Curse, as computer problems showed up once more, delaying the final for over fifteen minutes. The long pause didn't seem to affect the game much though.

NiP were overwhelmingly strong as terrorists ever since the crucial mistakes by Curse on the pistol round, and the Swedes scored yet another championship to keep their undefeated strike alive with a 16-11, 2-0 win.

Meanwhile Lemondogs took down Danish Anexis for the third place at THOR Open, winning 10,000 SEK thanks to a 2-0 win with scores of 16-14 on de_nuke_ve and 16-4 on de_mirage_go.

THOR Open 2012 final standings:

1. NiP - 100,000 SEK (~$15,100)
2. Curse - 20,000 SEK (~$3,000)
3. Lemondogs - 10,000 SEK (~$1,500)
4. Anexis
5-8. gosu
5-8. Western Wolves
5-8. Absolute Legends
5-8. Copenhagen Wolves

This concludes our live coverage at THOR Open in Stockholm, Sweden, but you can count on more photos and highlight videos surfacing from the event in the coming days.