NiP beat MAD Lions to finalise Blast Premier Europe Finals list

The Ninjas will face Natus Vincere in the first round of the $500,000 tournament on Tuesday.

Ninjas in Pyjamas are through to the BLAST Premier Spring Europe Finals after disposing of MAD Lions in the Showdown tournament's third-place decider. The Swedish giants were the better team for the bulk of the series against a MAD Lions side that relied heavily upon the individual class of Frederik "⁠acoR⁠" Gyldstrand, who put in another masterclass to keep his team alive on Nuke and Train after a one-sided Overpass affair.

The Swedish team made a spirit start to the opening half on Overpass as they raced to a 5-0 lead on the offense after winning a series of close situations late in rounds, including a 1v3 clutch by Simon "⁠twist⁠" Eliasson in the pistol round. MAD Lions, who had played this map just two times in the last three months, struggled to find a footing in the game as the rounds they edged out were few and far between, but they tightened up their defense late in the half to make it a competitive 9-6 scoreline.

Tim "⁠nawwk⁠" Jonasson was unwilling to let the situation get out of hand and picked up three quick kills with the Dual Berettas in the pistol round to kick Ninjas in Pyjamas further into the lead. The game seemed to be firmly in control of the Swedes, who even afforded a rare slip-up as they were punished for their sloppiness in an anti-eco round clutched by acoR. There would be no follow-up to that as Ninjas in Pyjamas reacted immediately and chained a few rounds together en route to an easy victory.

NiP will move on to the $500,000 tournament

Ninjas in Pyjamas were unable to keep that same intensity on Nuke, one of their weakest maps (30% winrate in the last three months). MAD Lions ran all over the Swedish defense during the opening stages of the game, with Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser single-handedly keeping his team in it with key Desert Eagle kills in eco rounds. By the 10th round, he had just as many frags as his teammates combined, and his efforts paid off: Ninjas in Pyjamas woke up and gradually took the upper hand, going into the break up by one.

The acoR show began right after the pistol round. He took over as MAD Lions bounced back after losing the initial round, posting a jaw-dropping 3.23 rating (with 196 ADR) as he led his team to a convincing victory on the map with his AWP.

Ninjas in Pyjamas looked unfazed by that defeat as they came out on Train with all guns blazing. They had MAD Lions against the ropes from the start, shutting down any chances of the Danish team stringing rounds together as they cruised to an 11-4 lead, with Nicolas "⁠Plopski⁠" Gonzalez Zamora and hampus leading the charge for the Ninjas.

More misery was to come for MAD Lions, who saw their opponents add to their lead after a bright start to the second half. With no room for error, Asger "⁠AcilioN⁠" Larsen's troops began to chip away at the deficit, eventually reaching double-digit territory after putting together a string of rounds, but a comeback was not on the cards as Ninjas in Pyjamas bagged the final two rounds they needed, with hampus delivering the finishing blow with a 1v2 clutch.

BLAST Premier Spring 2020 Europe ShowdownBest of 3 MAD LionsMatchpage 1 2 15th June 2020 Ninjas in Pyjamas 7Overpass 16 16Nuke 10 11Train 16

MAD Lions	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Frederik 'acoR' GyldstrandacoR	78 - 51	+27	109.5	1.47
Fredrik 'roeJ' JørgensenroeJ	47 - 51	-4	63.6	0.94
Rasmus 'sjuush' Becksjuush	47 - 53	-6	67.4	0.87
Lucas 'Bubzkji' AndersenBubzkji	41 - 56	-15	63.6	0.85
Asger 'AcilioN' LarsenAcilioN	33 - 55	-22	59.7	0.77

Ninjas in Pyjamas	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Fredrik 'REZ' SternerREZ	55 - 48	+7	84.0	1.14
Nicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez ZamoraPlopski	57 - 49	+8	74.8	1.12
Tim 'nawwk' Jonassonnawwk	54 - 46	+8	77.9	1.12
Hampus 'hampus' Poserhampus	55 - 51	+4	76.1	1.07
Simon 'twist' Eliassontwist	45 - 52	-7	64.7	0.93

With Ninjas in Pyjamas securing the last spot in the BLAST Premier Spring Europe Finals, the match-ups for the first-round of the $500,000 tournament, which will feature a double-elimination format, look as follows:

G2 vs. Vitality
FaZe vs. ENCE
Natus Vincere vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas
Complexity vs. OG

Ninjas in Pyjamas #13 Simon 'twist' EliassonFredrik 'REZ' SternerHampus 'hampus' PoserTim 'nawwk' JonassonNicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez Zamora Hampus 'hampus' Poser Age: 21 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 1011 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.69 Tim 'nawwk' Jonasson Age: 22 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 622 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.63 Complexity #16 William 'RUSH' WierzbaKristian 'k0nfig' WieneckeValentin 'poizon' VasilevOwen 'oBo' SchlatterBenjamin 'blameF' Bremer Nicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez Zamora Age: 18 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 660 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.66 MAD Lions #17 Asger 'AcilioN' LarsenLucas 'Bubzkji' AndersenFrederik 'acoR' GyldstrandRasmus 'sjuush' BeckFredrik 'roeJ' Jørgensen FaZe #7 Nikola 'NiKo' KovačHåvard 'rain' NygaardMarcelo 'coldzera' DavidHelvijs 'broky' SaukantsAurimas 'Bymas' Pipiras Natus Vincere #1 Egor 'flamie' VasilyevOleksandr 's1mple' KostylievDenis 'electroNic' SharipovKirill 'Boombl4' MikhailovIlya 'Perfecto' Zalutskiy Vitality #10 Richard 'shox' PapillonCédric 'RpK' GuipouyDan 'apEX' MadesclaireMathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautKévin 'misutaaa' Rabier Simon 'twist' Eliasson Age: 25 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 1338 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.67 Asger 'AcilioN' Larsen Age: 23 Team: MAD Lions Rating 1.0: 0.96 Maps played: 1277 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.67 Frederik 'acoR' Gyldstrand Age: 22 Team: MAD Lions Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 835 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.64 G2 #2 Audric 'JACKZ' JugNemanja 'huNter-' KovačKenny 'kennyS' SchrubFrançois 'amanek' DelaunayNemanja 'nexa' Isaković OG #20 Nathan 'NBK-' SchmittValdemar 'valde' Bjørn VangsåAleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenIssa 'ISSAA' MuradMateusz 'mantuu' Wilczewski ENCE #18 Aleksi 'allu' JalliJani 'Aerial' JussilaMiikka 'suNny' KemppiJere 'sergej' SaloElias 'Jamppi' Olkkonen