NiP over OpTic to Group B final

NiP are the second team to reach the finals of ELEAGUE Group B after bringing down OpTic 2-1 (3-16 on Cobblestone, 16-2 on Overpass, and 16-14 on Train).

The second semifinal of day three of ELEAGUE's Group B saw Swedish team Ninjas in Pyjamas, ranked fourth in the world, taking on Canadian-American-Spanish team OpTic, who are currently ranked fifteenth.

With NiP having comfortably dispatched OpTic in two maps during the group seeding stage, the best-of-three series kicked off on NiP's map pick of Cobblestone. OpTic star Oscar "⁠mixwell⁠" Cañellas helped his team win their T-side pistolround with a double kill and the North American team powered ahead to an early 3-0 lead.

Following NiP shutting down a sloppy B-take by OpTic and thus winning the first gunround, OpTic yet again bought thanks to their economic management and saving of SMG's in the previous round and split open the B-site to give themselves a 4-1 lead and reset NiP's economy.

f0rest and NiP struggled against OpTic on Cobblestone and Train

OpTic continued to exploit the drop-connector area and moved forward, although NiP did pick up one round where Peter "⁠stanislaw⁠" Jarguz almost won a one-versus-three but fell to Jacob "⁠pyth⁠" Mourujärvi when he ran out of bullets.

William "⁠RUSH⁠" Wierzba and his teammates continued to punish NiP and moved ahead to a 10-2 score, and even forced NiP to use their tactical pause early, the thirteenth round saw Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg finally put some kills on the board (as he was 0-10) by winning a one-versus-two on the B site. But NiP's efforts were to no avail on the first half as OpTic finished up 12-3.

RUSH got three CZ-75 kills for his team on the second pistolround and thus gave OpTic a nearly insurmountable lead on the map which the team made good on by closing the remaining rounds and winning 16-3 on Cobblestone.

NAF-FLY and OpTic nearly claimed Train

Overpass was the second map and team captain Richard "⁠Xizt⁠" Landström seemed determined to give OpTic a taste of their own medicine as the Swedes took the pistolround and stormed ahead to a commanding lead on their T-side in the first half, with f0rest in particular making up for his abysmal Cobblestone performance. NiP finished the half up 13-2.

With OpTic seemingly resigned to their fate on the map, NiP won a two-versus-one on the second pistolround on the B-site (with pyth sticking the defuse) and picked up the following rounds to close the map 16-2.

Train was the decider map (a map widely considered to be OpTic's best map in the pool) and following a pistolround win for NiP on their T-side, Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic & co. struck back with forced-up pistols and equalised the score. The early game generally saw OpTic playing a better defense than NiP's offense, and the half finished 9-6 in favour of the North American team.

Things really began to look as if NiP were going to lose their favoured slot, and the game took on a tone of one of those classic battles, with rounds going tit-for-tat. With OpTic having the monetary lead and an advantage at 14-13 however, NiP force bought and somehow made things work and eventually claimed the final three rounds to take Train 16-14.

ELEAGUE Season 1Best of 3 G2Matchpage 2 0 2nd June 2016 Selfless 16Cache 2 16Train 8 News tags:

G2	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Adil 'ScreaM' BenrlitomScreaM	49 - 18	+31	108.6	1.76
Cédric 'RpK' GuipouyRpK	44 - 25	+19	110.0	1.67
Edouard 'SmithZz' DubourdeauxSmithZz	36 - 20	+16	86.3	1.42
Alexandre 'bodyy' Pianarobodyy	29 - 23	+6	80.8	1.30
Richard 'shox' Papillonshox	28 - 25	+3	72.1	1.14

Selfless	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Skyler 'Relyks' WeaverRelyks	22 - 37	-15	67.9	0.81
Mitch 'mitch' Semagomitch	25 - 37	-12	70.9	0.79
Noah 'Nifty' FrancisNifty	22 - 37	-15	60.0	0.73
Michael 'MAiNLiNE' JaberMAiNLiNE	22 - 37	-15	61.6	0.69
Connor 'CONNOR93' GloverCONNOR93	20 - 38	-18	52.8	0.56

ELEAGUE Season 1Best of 3 Ninjas in PyjamasMatchpage 2 1 2nd June 2016 OpTic 3Cobblestone 16 16Overpass 2 16Train 14

Ninjas in Pyjamas	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Patrik 'f0rest' Lindbergf0rest	57 - 41	+16	85.2	1.29
Richard 'Xizt' LandströmXizt	47 - 44	+3	71.0	1.11
Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundGeT_RiGhT	49 - 48	+1	82.6	1.09
Adam 'friberg' Fribergfriberg	38 - 52	-14	72.5	0.96
Jacob 'pyth' Mourujärvipyth	41 - 47	-6	68.4	0.92

OpTic	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
William 'RUSH' WierzbaRUSH	52 - 42	+10	78.1	1.19
Peter 'stanislaw' Jarguzstanislaw	47 - 45	+2	79.2	1.09
Keith 'NAF' MarkovicNAF	46 - 48	-2	75.0	1.08
Damian 'daps' Steeledaps	43 - 47	-4	74.0	1.00
Oscar 'mixwell' Cañellasmixwell	44 - 50	-6	69.8	1.00

Group B of ELEAGUE will conclude tomorrow with the televised group final between G2 and Null element at 04:00 on TBS. Make sure to tune in.

stich writes for HLTV.org and can be found on Twitter

Oscar 'mixwell' Cañellas Age: 20 Team: OpTic Rating 1.0: 1.15 Maps played: 153 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.66 OpTic #15 William 'RUSH' WierzbaOscar 'mixwell' CañellasPeter 'stanislaw' JarguzKeith 'NAF' MarkovicDamian 'daps' Steele Richard 'Xizt' Landström Age: 25 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 953 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.64 Time is adjusted to your selected timezone G2 #5 Richard 'shox' PapillonCédric 'RpK' GuipouyEdouard 'SmithZz' DubourdeauxAdil 'ScreaM' BenrlitomAlexandre 'bodyy' Pianaro Ninjas in Pyjamas #4 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergChristopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundRichard 'Xizt' LandströmAdam 'friberg' FribergJacob 'pyth' Mourujärvi Jacob 'pyth' Mourujärvi Age: 22 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 411 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.68 Keith 'NAF' Markovic Age: 18 Team: OpTic Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 309 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.66 Peter 'stanislaw' Jarguz Age: 22 Team: OpTic Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 250 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.68 Patrik 'f0rest' Lindberg Age: 27 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.18 Maps played: 932 KPR: 0.80 DPR: 0.63 William 'RUSH' Wierzba Age: 22 Team: OpTic Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 292 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.69