There is almost nothing separating G2 and NiP. After G2 won NiP’s map pick of Mirage, NiP struck back on Inferno and how! NiP won a thriller on Dust 2 to secure a Grand finals appearance against Mousesports.
G2 and the Ninjas in Pyjamas faced each other in the lower bracket final of Flashpoint Season 3. The winner would move ahead to meet an undefeated Mousesports in the grand finals.
Flashpoint Season 3 is the Valve-sponsored Regional Major ranking event for Europe. The tournament has sixteen teams competing for a $50,000 prize pool. After several days of play, Mousesports has already secured its spot in the grand finals. The team has not lost a single map through the tournament. Meanwhile, G2 and NiP battled it out in the lower bracket finals today for a chance to challenge Mousesports. Here’s how it all unfolded between G2 and the Ninjas in Pyjamas.
The Map Veto: A surprise Mirage pick
The veto was a surprise for the analysts as NiP picked Mirage, which is also a very good map for their opponents. G2 picked Inferno as its map of choice while Dust 2 was the decider match. The best-of-three series would see the battle between two of the best players in the game, Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz and Nikola "NiKo" Kovač.
Mirage: G2 win 16-12 to take the lead in the series
Mirage started off strong with a 4k for Niko and set the pace for the next few rounds. NiP tried to force-buy and wrest economic control, but G2’s players were more than ready to strike back and cruised to a 5-0 lead. The next few rounds saw both teams string together a few rounds, only for the opponent to win a few in a row. NiP won the last three rounds but G2 already had a lead after the first half with a 9-6 score.
G2 won the second pistol and built upon its lead. François "AmaNEk" Delaunay was leading his team by example while Niko and Nemanja "nexa" Isaković were close behind. The trio repeatedly got high amounts of damage through smoke, always keeping the NiP players on low HP.
There was very little separating the two teams. NiP continued to pull off near-impossible rounds wins such as Dev1ce’s ninja defuse on Mirage. But despite NiP's best efforts, the team never managed to close the gap with G2.
Ultimately, G2's lead proved too much for NiP and the first map ended with a 16-12 victory for G2. As we moved to Inferno, the odds for a G2 victory looked extremely likely. Inferno was G2's map pick and the team has looked extremely comfortable on the CT-sided map.
NiP win Inferno, G2's map pick (16-9)
NiP started on the CT side of Inferno and was extremely dominant right from the get go. The team won the first four rounds to secure an early lead. While G2 esports clawed back into the first half, NiP still ended the half with a 10-5 lead.
The second pistol round started with a dominant B site defense by G2 esports. Niko and Nexa took all five kills to hand G2 esports the pistol win.
Unfortunately for G2 fans, NiP struck right back in the second round, thereby crippling the G2 economy. NiP continued its aggression on both bomb sites. The Ninjas in Pyjamas set themselves up for success with excellent positioning and using superior numbers to get any advantage for themselves. The Ninjas won the first five rounds in the second half to reach map point. Despite G2's efforts, NiP eventually won Inferno with a 16-9 score after an insane 1v3 clutch by Hampus.
NiP seal the deal on Dust 2
NiP was the favored team on Dust 2 due to the players' experience on this map. The team lost the pistol but countered back after a few rounds. With some crazy individual performances, NiP was able to string a 9-6 half.
NiP was simply the superior team on the CT side. The Ninjas won five of the first six rounds to reach 14 and were just two rounds away from a series win. One of the biggest problems for G2 was Niko underperforming on Dust 2. He is one of the best players on Dust 2 but was just having a hard time today. NiP took full advantage of any lapses in the opponent's playstyle to secure the win. But the game was not done just yet, as G2 won six consecutive rounds to bring the game to 13-14. But NiP eventually managed to win the last few rounds to secure a 16-14 win.
As CSGO fans watched top-tier Counter-Strike with excitement, NiP now advances to the grand finals of the Flashpoint 3. Will they finally hand Mousesports its first map loss of the tournament or will Mousesports continue undefeated to win the RMR event?
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