NiP edge out Astralis at DH Summer

Ninjas in Pyjamas are through to the grand final at DreamHack ZOWIE Open Summer after seeing off Astralis 2-1 (16-12 on Cache, 10-16 on Overpass and 16-14 on Cobblestone).

The first map of the series was Cache, which began with Astralis taking the pistol round as CT after succesfully defending the B bombsite thanks to their timely rotations. NiP punched back on a force buy, however, and went on a great run to bring the scoreline to a 6-1 advantage.

Astralis then won four rounds in a row, forcing NiP to call a timeout in a bid to halt their opponents' momentum. For the rest of the half, the teams traded blows, with NiP taking a narrow 8-7 lead.

The second half began with a flawless retake from NiP inside the A site, with the win eventually turning into a massive streak as they hit 14 rounds. Astralis then went on a great run of their own as all the close rounds went their way.

friberg's insane 4k gave NiP the win on Cache 

With the tide now swinging in Astralis' favour, NiP needed a massive individual action to get back into the game, and that is exactly what happened as Adam "⁠friberg⁠" Friberg got a quad kill inside garage to put his team on map point, with the Swedes following it up with the next round.

The teams then moved on to Overpass, where Astralis' monstrous start saw them secure the first five rounds of the map. It was only then that NiP managed to pull themselves together, but their inability to string rounds together hurt their economy and saw the Danes increase their lead to seven rounds. Things were starting to look grim for NiP, but they still picked up three more rounds before the end of the half to keep themselves in the game.

In the second half, NiP put together a significant run of rounds - despite a third-round blunder that saw them over-rotate and leave a bombsite exposed - and reduced the scoreline to a minimum. That is why Astralis' offense finally came to life as the Danes won five rounds in a row, the last of which thanks to a beautiful trio of kills from Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen, the team's MVP on this map.

dupreeh was on fire on Overpass 

It all came down to Cobblestone, where NiP got out to a quick 7-0 lead as their defense was all over the place. After calling a timeout, however, Astralis adjusted their offense and dominated the rest of the half, bringing the deficit to a minimum.

Astralis picked up were they left off and extended their streak by taking the first six rounds on the CT side. NiP looked dead and buried, but after calling a timeout they picked themselves up, winning eight of the final nine rounds to lock down the map 16-14.

DreamHack ZOWIE Open Summer 2016Best of 3 AstralisMatchpage 1 2 20th June 2016 Ninjas in Pyjamas 12Cache 16 16Overpass 10 14Cobblestone 16

Ninjas in Pyjamas	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Richard 'Xizt' LandströmXizt	57 - 55	+2	80.4	1.11
Jacob 'pyth' Mourujärvipyth	60 - 56	+4	77.2	1.09
Patrik 'f0rest' Lindbergf0rest	59 - 56	+3	75.6	1.00
Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundGeT_RiGhT	52 - 64	-12	71.8	0.97
Adam 'friberg' Fribergfriberg	52 - 62	-10	68.7	0.90

Astralis	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Markus 'Kjaerbye' KjærbyeKjaerbye	75 - 62	+13	106.2	1.38
Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussendupreeh	72 - 59	+13	87.3	1.23
Nicolai 'device' Reedtzdevice	65 - 51	+14	85.4	1.20
Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethXyp9x	48 - 51	-3	67.8	0.97
Finn 'karrigan' Andersenkarrigan	33 - 58	-25	45.4	0.65

Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussen Age: 23 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.11 Maps played: 789 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.65 Adam 'friberg' Friberg Age: 24 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 944 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.66