OG come back in overtime against NIP

The second Bo3 of the day at BLAST Premier Spring Groups, saw the undefeated OG take on Ninjas In Pyjamas, who had eliminated the world's #1, Na'Vi, in their last matchup. The two sides now had to do fight each other for a spot in the Spring Finals.

The first team to choose a map was NIP, and they chose to play Overpass which has looked very solid for them at the BLAST Premier Spring Groups.
It was the CTs of OG that got off to the best start taking a massive early lead, with “mantuu” leading the way individually. A more deciding factor was the impeccable reads that came out of the OG side, which enabled them to stack bombsites and have very fast flanks, which led to them strangling the NIP offense. The Ninjas managed to take a measly three rounds before the break and now had to make a huge comeback.
OG continued their dominance in the second half and secured match point three rounds into the second half. OG didn’t manage to end it completely clean, as they did drop one more round to NIP, but were able to take the victory on Overpass at 16-4.

The second map up was Ancient and was picked by OG. It’s a map that has looked very strong for the new OG, and thus a very unsurprising pick.
A great start from IGL “hampus” facilitated an early lead for the CT-side Ninjas, and quickly they had secured four rounds, the same amount they managed to take through all of Overpass. But just as fast as the Swedes had taken the lead, they lost it again, to an OG that looked extremely coordinated. NIP ended the half on a happy note as they were able to take the last four rounds and go to halftime with an 8-7 lead.
The OG squad got off to a great start on their CT-side, retaking the lead with a three-round streak. With “hampus” calling a good T-side, and OG being a solid Ancient-team, the second half was very close and had several lead changes. It was the Ninjas who were finally able to pull away and secure map point at 15-12. OG almost pulled the game into overtime, but armed with nothing but pistols, NIP took the 30th round and won the map.

The deciding third map was none other than the legendary Mirage, and had NIP starting on the T-side, while OG started as the CTs.
After a nasty loss on their own map pick of Ancient, OG pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and took the first four rounds of the map, but answering right back were the Ninjas with six rounds of their own. The last part of the half was split right down the middle with OG taking three rounds, and NIP taking two, and they went to halftime at 8-7.
After switching to the CT-side NIP immediately extended their advantage to 13-7. OG started making a comeback look possible, but it was the Swedes that hit map- and match point at 15-11. The “nexa”-led squad managed to take it to the 30th round, and in the end, it was “niko” that secured overtime for OG.
Just like regulation, the start to overtime was extremely close, and OG barely managed two of the three rounds in the 1st half of overtime. The Ninjas managed to equalize after the half, but OG took the last two rounds and ran away with the victory at 19-17.

OG thereby secures a spot in the Spring Finals, while NIP will have to beat Na’Vi once again if they also want a spot in the Spring Finals.

Highlight of the series:

OG – NIP 2-1 | BLAST Premier Spring Groups

16-4 (Overpass) | niko – 1.72 Rating / 21-8 K-D / 111.8 ADR

14-16 (Ancient) | valde – 1.27 Rating / 20-14 K-D / 76.2 ADR

19-17 (Mirage) | flameZ – 1.55 Rating / 32-24 K-D / 104.0 ADR

MVP: Shahar "flameZ" Shushan – 1.31 Rating / 63-54 K-D / 84.9 ADR