In a continued return to form, the Ninjas in Pyjamas dropped only a single map on their way to being crowned the CS:GO champions of DreamHack Valencia 2017, taking home the lion’s share of the $100,000 prize pool in the process.
Five sides, in Counter Logic Gaming, Misfits, EnVyUs, Ninjas in Pyjamas and Heroic, received a direct invitation to the event, while NRG eSports, KPI Gaming and Red Reserve all came through regional qualifiers to earn their spot in the eight-team tournament.
NiP Out of the Gate Quickly
Opening up play in Group B, NiP absolutely dominated Red Reserve on Inferno to the tune of 16-3, before going on to comfortably defeat North America’s Counter Logic Gaming 16-10 on Overpass in the winner’s match. That victory placed NiP in the playoffs, where they came up against Team EnVyUs, one of the more inconsistent tier-two teams on the scene today.
EnVyUs showed their peak potential in the first map, cruising to a 16-8 victory on Inferno. RpK had his breakout game of the tournament for EnVy, dropping 24 kills in as many rounds. The Ninjas in Pyjamas quickly stabilised, however, grabbing a convincing 16-10 victory on their best map since their recent roster changes, Cache.
The final map of the semi-finals was Train, where NiP took control early on, winning nine of the first ten rounds. EnVyUs did bounce back going into and coming out of the half, answering NiP with eight out of nine rounds. From there, however, NiP swept away their opponents, gathering the final six rounds to put them in the finals for a rematch against their initial opponents, Red Reserve.
Red Reserve Recover Well
Following their crushing defeat to NiP early on, Red Reserve had an incredibly impressive climb to the finals. However, the Swedes did little to boost confidence in the early stages of their second match, losing map one against NRG – considered one of the weaker teams at this event – 16-9 on Train.
After their first victory of the tournament on map two, where they triumphed 16-11 on Cobblestone, RR carried their momentum into map three, Cache, where they showed more encouraging signs. FREDDyFROG had an absurd performance, dropping 28 kills in the 16-10 victory.
Many thought Red Reserve’s tournament would come to an end against CLG, a team that has been on the rise as of late despite the loss of their much-lauded coach, Chet “ImAPet” Singh. FREDDyFROG and crew continued their momentum into this best-of-three series, picking up another win on Cobblestone to the tune of 16-10. CLG, however, bounced back on Cache, securing the nail-biting 16-14 victory primarily on the back of reltuC’s team-high 28 kills.
In a game not soon to be forgotten, CLG were up 15-12 on Mirage before the mistake of the year occurred. After eliminating all RR members, CLG’s koosta began to defuse the bomb without a defuse kit – all while FNS stood next to him with the required equipment. Not only did CLG proceed to lose the round, they then lost the following two as well, and eventually dropped the map in four overtimes (28-24).
Surprise in the Semi-finals
This put Red Reserve into the semi-finals against one of the favourites of the tournament, Heroic. The first map set the tone as to how close this series would be, with Heroic inching out the victory 16-13 on Train. After RR narrowly took Overpass 16-14, they found themselves in a familiar situation – overtime on Mirage. Once again, Red Reserve were victorious, this time in a swifter 19-7 victory, with Maikelele finally having a standout showing on 33 kills.
The finals were fairly short-lived, with NiP looking dominant throughout. Opening on Mirage, the Swedes had a slow start, only managing to secure six of the first 15 rounds. After swapping over to the CT side, however, NiP took control of the game, losing only a single round in the whole half to give them the 16-10 win. Primary AWPer draken had a solid game for his side, garnering 25 kills. The second map was over before it truly started, as NiP were allowed once again to play Cache – where they absolutely decimated Red Reserve, in 16-2 fashion.
While most of their success has been on Cache, NiP have been on an upward swing since the removing of Friberg in favour of REZ. If NiP can find consistency on more than one map, they may have what it takes to become a real threat down the line.
