Following 16-13 wins on Nuke and Vertigo, #NinjasinPyjamas began their run through Group C of the #ESLProLeagueSeason17 with a 2-0 victory over #paiN.

PaiN demonstrated promise throughout the series and should be pleased of the fact that they made the Nordic squad work hard for their 2-0 win. Unfortunately, the Brazilian squad, ranked No. 30 in the world, lost to low-investment bids as a result of times when they were distracted from the game.

Nuke began with an ace from k0nfig and his Dual Berettas in the handgun round, but paiN was able to build an early advantage thanks to 10 kills from Romeu #zevy Rocco and a 1v3 clutch in round four. The Brazilians were given a 4-2 initial tally on the T side thanks to Rocco. Once Ninjas in Pyjamas had guns in their hands, this advantage was quickly lost. Another ace, this time from Aleksib, enabled his team to take the 5-4 lead. The European team then used their renewed energy to put up a strong defense to enter the break with a three-round lead.

When their T side attempt started, Ninjas in Pyjamas kept up their pace and abused Ramp three times in a row to easily surpass the double-digit mark, 12-6. The Brazilian defense was alert, outwitting the Ninjas, who were unable to capitalize on their powerful start on the offensive side, and saw their advantage reduced to 12-12. Unfortunately, paiN’s impressive recovery was in vain as a reenergized Ninjas in Pyjamas pulled a four-round spree out of their hat to finish out the map one, 16-13.

At the start of Vertigo, paiN established the rules and put their opponents in difficult situations so they could easily gain a 4-0 advantage defensively. In round 6, the tide of the match was turned and signaled the start of a prolonged Nordic supremacy run. With 21 kills to his credit, Brollan put an end to Ninjas in Pyjamas’ T side effort and helped the team to a 9-6 lead at the side switch. The Ninjas only gave up two rounds over the course of the remaining half.

paiN took the first two rounds of the second half to cut the lead in half, but a Ninjas in Pyjamas mistake in round 18 allowed Aleksib’s team to regain control and go on to win 15-9 at the map point. Ninjas in Pyjamas defeated paiN in round 29, with Brollan shooting down two to finish his 32-kill map, 16-13, despite paiN enjoying a late-map comeback thanks to an aggressive and in-your-face T side that allowed them to narrow the gap to two.