Sprout eliminate Ninjas in Pyjamas from IEM Rio Major

Sprout have kept their IEM Rio Major dreams alive after moving past Ninjas in Pyjamas in the 0-2 pool, defeating Aleksib and company 2-0 (16-11 Vertigo, 16-14 Ancient) to eliminate them from the Legends Stage in last place.

Ninjas in Pyjamas join FaZe in making an early exit from the event in Brazil, an unexpected outcome for a team that looked to be on the climb following a strong showing at the IEM Road to Rio Europe RMR in Malta. Sprout, meanwhile, can breathe a sigh of relief after buying themselves another life, but will have to continue demonstrating good form as they look toward their next match against Spirit in the 1-2 pool on Monday.

Sprout got the series underway on Vertigo, gaining steam off a pistol round win to go up 5-0 on the CT-side. Ninjas in Pyjamas showed signs of life by securing two rounds in response, but were left looking despondent after Ismail “⁠refrezh⁠” Ali and Rasmus “⁠Zyphon⁠” Nordfoss combined with a handful of multi-kill rounds to double Sprout‘s lead, 10-2, with the Swedes closing the deficit by three rounds to end the half.

Ninjas in Pyjamas just barely failed to recover a 2vs4 situation in the second pistol, but fought back with a force-buy in the ensuing round to gain an early footing on the defense. The momentum began to swing into the favor of Aleksib‘s men from there, and the rounds went dominantly in their favor as the score gap began to close, NIP managing to bring themselves within one round of evening things up, 11-10. Sprout just barely clung on their lead, however, and emerged on top of a back-and-forth trading of blows to regain control of the proceedings and close out the map, 16-11.

Zyphon continued to be a powerful force for Sprout on the T side of Ancient, allowing his team another strong start as they put up the same 5-0 lead. Once again Ninjas in Pyjamas only began to find their footing part way through the half, but they did stop themselves from suffering another early blowout by successfully recovering a handful of disadvantageous situations, only for Victor “⁠Staehr⁠” Staehr to secure a crucial 1vs3 clutch to just barely keep Sprout in the lead at the side swap.

Sprout extended their edge once on the CT side, converting a pistol round win into a spree of three to pull ahead 11-7. Hampus “⁠hampus⁠” Poser gunned down three Sprout members to recover a 3vs5 situation and get NIP their first T side round, but Sprout were quick to respond with two rounds of their own to hold on to their lead. The situation began to look grim for Ninjas in Pyjamas as the rounds they won from that point onward look labored, primarily with Sprout fumbling advantages and Ninjas in Pyjamas coming out on top of late-round situations to bring overtime within reach. However, a failure to clear Zyphon upon entering A site in round 30 ultimately led to NIP’s demise, allowing Sprout to edge out a win, 16-14.