NiP knock fnatic out

Ninjas in Pyjamas have knocked fnatic out of SLTV StarSeires VII with a 2-0 win in the lower bracket final (16-11 on de_train_se, 16-12 on de_inferno_se).

NiP and fnatic suffered losses in their opening matches in SLTV StarSeries VII, and their second and last chance to stay in contention for the title was the lower bracket final against each other.

fnatic were fighting for their tournament life

The match started on de_train_se, the same map their controversial encounter at DH Bucharest took place on, with fnatic beginning on the CT side.

Still being the underdogs despite that win in Romania, fnatic took an early 2-0 lead, but NiP quickly cut them off and turned the tables around, 3-2.

After exchanging the next couple of rounds, fnatic had an eco they only could have dreamed of, with Robin "flusha" Rönnquist scoring two amazing long range headshots with his usp and the rest of his team cleaning up for 4-4.

That seemed to lift fnatic's spirits, as they went on to win 6 more rounds in a row for a 10-4 lead, including some clutch play by Andreas "MODDII" Fridh, and some good AWP kills by Jesper "jw" Wecksell in the process.

The reigning champions, however, didn't roll over and Alesund, together with Robin "Fifflaren" Johansson, clinched a 2-on-3 situation in the last round of the half to reduce the deficit to 10-5.

f0rest had another memorable pistol round

After switching sides, the world's best pistol player Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg once again showed why he deserves that title as he scored four fast headshots in the outer bombsite, kickstarting NiP's comeback.

Ninjas completely shut down all entrances and won round after round, bar the 22nd one when Andreas "schneider" Lindberg opened up the action with the Terrorists' automatic sniper as fnatic somehow evened the score at 11-11.

However, their economy was immediately reset and NiP practically strolled until the end of the map, closing it out with 16-11.

Map two was de_inferno_se, and fnatic once again got to start on the CT side thanks to winning the knife round.

They looked very good in the beginning, getting a 5-0 lead and reading NiP's plays even after losing the 6th round, eventually getting to a 7-1 advantage.

However, Ninjas found some answers of their own and they slowly reduced the deficit while fnatic refused to go on a save round, eventually losing their last forced buy for 7-5.

NiP had found their grasp of the map, only losing the 14th round to some intuitive play by Wecksell, whose 2 kills through a smoke in a 3-on-3 brought fnatic their 8th round in an otherwise unsettling 8-7 lead at the half.

The momentum completely escaped Fridh's team and they quickly dropped the lead they had, seeing NiP go up 12-8 after winning the pistol and the first buy of the second half.

GeT_RiGhT and MODDII had individual heroics in the late rounds of the match

However, fnatic didn't have their last say yet at this moment, as some thoughtful attacks allowed them to string a few rounds together, and eventually equalize the score at 12-12 thanks to an amazing 1vs3 clutch by Fridh.

NiP were now the ones who stubbornly kept buying, but in their case it paid off as they replied well for 13-12 and then Richard "Xizt" Landström scored 4 incredible close range headshots with a famas for 14-12.

It was another individual play, Alesund's amazing AK47 spray for three opening kills in the 27th round, that practically secured the map and the match for NiP, as they closed it out 16-12 quickly after that.

fnatic are therefore out of the tournament, having to settle for the 4th place prize of $1,500, while NiP will stay in the battle for the title.

Next up for the Swedes is consolidation final on Saturday around 21:00 against the loser of VeryGames vs. Astana Dragons clash.