NiP move past Movistar Riders with 2-1 victory

The IEM Fall 2021 Europe RMR event has reached the playoffs and things are beginning to get interesting for the remaining eight teams. The first quarter-final of the day saw the Ninjas in Pyjamas facing the Spanish Movistar Riders roster in a Bo3-series. Whilst NiP were the heavy favorites going into the Bo3-series it was unsure as to how potent the Movistar Rider would be, seeing that their prior success had come in the Bo1-series format where anything can happen. Playing to the absolute best of their ability it was heartbreaking when the Spanish roster would have to see themselves bested by the Ninjas 2-1. The 2-1 victory means that NiP will advance to the semi-finals and remain undefeated at the event.

The first map was the choice of NiP and, perhaps unsurprisingly, meant that the Bo3-series would start on Ancient. With more and more time having passed since the addition of Ancient to the official map pool, it has become clear to everyone that NiP is one of the best teams to pick into the map Ancient. Whilst the Swedes’ ability on the map is well known, however, Movistar Riders seemed to have done their homework. A close first half saw the two teams head to halftime at the close scoreline of 8-7. The second half was just as close and neither team would give up Ancient without a fight. Ultimately, however, the Ninjas in Pyjamas pulled away and closed out the first map of the series with a 16-14 victory on Ancient.

The second map of the series was to be played on Inferno and was, of course, picked by Movistar Riders. Whilst it, by no means, is a bad map for NiP, it is possibly the strongest map for the Spanish roster. And the decision to play into their own strengths instead of their opponent’s weaknesses seemed to be a clever choice. With confidence and intent, it was the Movistar Riders to start Inferno the strongest, quickly gaining a 5-0 lead before being answered back by NiP. A dominant performance from Movistar Riders in the first half led to a 9-6 scoreline going into the second half of Inferno. The second half brought yet another strong start from the Spanish players and despite a valid attempt from NiP, forcing overtime, it was ultimately the Movistar Riders to take home Inferno at 19-16.

The third and final map was set to be played on Nuke. Perhaps frustrated with how things turned out on Inferno it was NiP to come flying out of the gate. With a secure CT-sided performance, the Movistar Riders roster had little success in getting past the Ninjas. At the impressive scoreline of 12-3 it was the Ninjas in Pyjamas to gain a heavy lead going into the second half of the map. All NiP had to do in the second half of Nuke was to finish what they had started. And despite a better start from the Spanish players, they did exactly that. At the scoreline of 16-5, it was NiP to walk away with a 2-1 victory and remain undefeated at the event.

Highlight of the BO3-series

NiP – Movistar Riders (2-1) | IEM Fall 2021 Europe (quarter-final)

16-14 (Ancient) | REZ – 1.34 Rating / 25-16 K-D / 76.9 ADR

19-16 (Inferno) | device – 1.29 Rating / 28-20 K-D / 79.6 ADR

16-5 (Nuke) | hampus – 1.82 Rating / 25-12 K-D / 122.2 ADR

MVP:  Nicolai ”device” Reedtz| 1.24 Rating / 65-45 K-D / 73.6 ADR