Ninjas In Pyjamas reverse-sweep Team Liquid in the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals of Group A.
Match details
- Team Liquid vs NIP
- Event : IEM Cologne 2021
- Event Type: LAN w/o crowd
- Date: 08/087/2021
Map Veto
- NIP removed Vertigo
- Liquid removed Ancient
- NIP picked Overpass
- Liquid picked Dust2
- NIP removed Inferno
- Liquid removed Nuke
- Mirage was leftover
Map 1: Overpass (Team Liquid 19-17 NIP)
Team Liquid came out on top in the first pistol round, but Hampus ‘hampus’ Poser’s men quickly answered back by buying up in the second round as Terrorists. Both sides traded rounds back and forth but it was Liquid who prevailed when it came to converting successful retakes over the compromised territories. The North American team then found their footing on the defense, as Michael “Grim” Wince led the way for his side to take four round wins before the switch, the first half ending 9-6 in the favour of Team Liquid.
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Liquid took control of proceedings against the Ninjas In Pyjamas early on into the second half, with a swift 12-6 lead on the attacking side of Overpass. A crazy second half indeed ensued as Liquid couldn’t win two rounds in a row after going 14-9 against NiP which saw the latter square off the scores thanks to Device’s ace with his AWP in the 25th round which helped the swedes gain momentum. A combined effort from Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo and Keith ‘NAF’ Markovic saw the North Americans force the first overtime over NiP where each and every player of Liquid came out with their guns blazing depicting an aggressive approach, the likes of which were only possible to be witnessed on LAN.
Map 2: Dust2 (NIP 16-6 Team Liquid)
On their offense, Team Liquid took a 3-0 lead to start Dust2, the second map of the Best of 3 series in the Upper Bracket Quarterfinal of the IEM Cologne 2021. With a couple of straightforward pistol and anti-eco rounds, Liquid went on to extend their lead to 6 while the Ninjas In Pyjamas found themselves trailing by 2-6 to the North Americans. Linus ‘LNZ’ Holtäng recouped for his team in the tenth round to halt Team Liquid‘s progress with a 4K B-site anchor. This indeed propelled the odds in favor of NiP who secured the first half with a 9-6 lead.
Coming from the break, the second half of Dust2 was purely a carbon copy, the one which we witnessed on Overpass, but this time it was Hampus and his men who were in the driver’s seat. The North Americans looked completely destitute and listless as their defenses were constantly breached by the Swedish side. The second map of the series eventually was won by the Ninjas In Pyjamas 16-6.
Map 3: Mirage (NIP 16-2 Team Liquid)
On Mirage, the Europeans started this time way ahead of Team Liquid, a force that stood unmatched to that of the latter. NiP undoubtedly was the best team on this decider as they constantly blew up the reinforcements, being set up by the North American side all the way to a 9-0 lead. Liquid finally got on the board, thanks to a double AWP setup initiated by their In-game leader Jake “Stewie2k” Yip and Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo from where they managed to secure yet another round and trail by 2-13 in the first half.
The second half was inevitably won by the Ninjas as they comfortably held the opponents on their line of defense.
What’s next?
Ninjas In Pyjamas would now face the winner of Gambit Vs Mousesports in the Group A Upper Semi-Finals whereas Team Liquid has been relegated to Lower round 1 and now face elimination.
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