Ninjas in Pyjamas have beaten Sprout 2-1 to stay alive at the Europe Minor (16-3 on Nuke, 14-16 on Mirage, and 16-13 on Train).

The lower bracket final at the Europe Minor featured Ninjas in Pyjamas and Sprout. The best-of-three game kicked off on Nuke with the Swedes on the CT-side. While Ninjas in Pyjamas picked up the pistol round and two anti-ecos, Sprout triumphed in the first weapon round to trail 3-1.

Ninjas in Pyjamas's response was a six round streak which extended their lead to 9-1. Ninjas in Pyjamas led 13-2 at halftime and secured the second half pistol round to make it 14-2. Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund & company wrapped it up with a 16-3 scorline.

dennis had a huge impact in the series

Denis "⁠denis⁠" Howell's team started Mirage on the T-side and grabbed the first seven rounds. Ninjas in Pyjamas hit back in the eighth round but they were reset in the ninth one, trailing 8-1. Sprout finished the first half 12-3 ahead as they clutched a 2vs4 in the 15th round.

Ninjas in Pyjamas secured the first five rounds on the T-side to trail 12-8. Sprout earned four map points but Ninjas in Pyjamas won a 2vs4 and a 3vs5 in the 27th and 29th rounds, respectively, to get to the ultimate regulation round. Martin "⁠PERCY⁠" Wessel denied the bomb plant in the last seconds of the last round to win the map 16-14 for Sprout.

Sprout are out of the Minor

Train started with Dennis "⁠dennis⁠" Edman & Jonas "⁠Lekr0⁠" Olofsson's 2vs4 clutch in the pistol round which put the T-sided Ninjas in Pyjamas 1-0 ahead. Sprout won the first weapon round and followed it up with four more rounds to lead 5-3. Ninjas in Pyjamas's success in weapon rounds came towards the end of the half which they managed to win 8-7.

Timo "⁠Spiidi⁠" Richter & co. won the second half pistol round and the following round to take the lead (9-8). Ninjas in Pyjamas tied the game at 9-9 by winning the 18th round thanks to a saved UMP and a Scout. The Swedish side went on to get a 16-13 map victory to win the series 2-1.

Tomorrow, Ninjas in Pyjamas will play the loser of the match between ENCE and OpTic for a spot at the FACEIT Major New Challengers Stage. Sprout, on the other hand, have been eliminated from the Europe Minor.

Europe Minor - FACEIT Major 2018Best of 3 SproutMatchpage 1 2 21st July 2018 Ninjas in Pyjamas 3Nuke 16 16Mirage 14 13Train 16

Sprout	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Martin 'PERCY' WesselPERCY	68 - 58	+10	84.9	1.17
Niels Christian 'NaToSaphiX' SillassenNaToSaphiX	49 - 58	-9	67.9	0.91
Timo 'Spiidi' RichterSpiidi	41 - 54	-13	62.2	0.88
Dennis 'sycrone' Nielsensycrone	45 - 59	-14	68.6	0.82
Denis 'denis' Howelldenis	32 - 65	-33	50.3	0.61

Ninjas in Pyjamas	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Fredrik 'REZ' SternerREZ	71 - 48	+23	90.8	1.36
Patrik 'f0rest' Lindbergf0rest	60 - 51	+9	80.6	1.20
Dennis 'dennis' Edmandennis	56 - 48	+8	75.7	1.18
Jonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonLekr0	55 - 45	+10	82.9	1.15
Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundGeT_RiGhT	51 - 43	+8	75.4	1.14

OpTic #20 Marco 'Snappi' PfeifferRené 'cajunb' BorgJakob 'JUGi' HansenNicklas 'gade' GadeKristian 'k0nfig' Wienecke Martin 'PERCY' Wessel Age: 24 Team: Sprout Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 543 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.69 Denis 'denis' Howell Age: 23 Team: Sprout Rating 1.0: 0.96 Maps played: 959 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.72 Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund Age: 28 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 1388 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.63 Ninjas in Pyjamas #12 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergChristopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundDennis 'dennis' EdmanJonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonFredrik 'REZ' Sterner Dennis 'dennis' Edman Age: 27 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 822 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.68 Timo 'Spiidi' Richter Age: 22 Team: Sprout Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 916 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.65 ENCE #17 Aleksi 'allu' JalliJani 'Aerial' JussilaSami 'xseveN' LaasanenAleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenJere 'sergej' Salo Jonas 'Lekr0' Olofsson Age: 25 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 599 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.67 Sprout #37 Martin 'PERCY' WesselTimo 'Spiidi' RichterDenis 'denis' HowellNiels Christian 'NaToSaphiX' SillassenDennis 'sycrone' Nielsen