Sprout stun NiP in overtime

Sprout are the first team from Group B through to the playoffs at the Europe Minor following an overtime victory over Ninjas in Pyjamas on Inferno.

The battle for the top spot in Group B began with a solid CT pistol from Ninjas in Pyjamas, who found two early frags before denying Niels Christian "⁠NaToSaphiX⁠" Sillassen a heroic 1v4 clutch.

Sprout then got the first full gun round, taking advantage of a massive blunder from Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg on the truck side, but the Ninjas replied as Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner shut down the B site with three AWP kills, two of them with no scope. The 20-year-old went huge in the following round as well with two crucial frags in a 2v2 situation, forcing Sprout to eco.

After getting their economy back on track, Sprout picked up the pace and went on a fantastic run, winning eight rounds straight to pick up a 9-6 lead, with Denis "⁠denis⁠" Howell and Timo "⁠Spiidi⁠" Richter both pulling off key clutches for the team.

Sprout march on to the playoffs in London

Now on the CT side, Sprout further added to their lead by winning three of the opening four rounds of the half. That was when Ninjas in Pyjamas's offence finally came to life, with the Ninjas bringing the scoreline to 14-12 after putting together a great run of rounds, headlined by a 1v3 clutch from Dennis "⁠dennis⁠" Edman.

The Germans refused to go down without a fight, however, and tightened up their defence to force overtime. With the momentum now in their favor, the Danish side went on a flawless 3-0 CT half, and put the game to bed two rounds into the second half to seal passage to the playoffs.

Europe Minor - FACEIT Major 2018Best of 1 SproutMatchpage 19 16 20th July 2018 Ninjas in Pyjamas 19Inferno 16

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Denis 'denis' Howell Age: 23 Team: Sprout Rating 1.0: 0.96 Maps played: 954 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.72 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: 816 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.68 Timo 'Spiidi' Richter Age: 22 Team: Sprout Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 911 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.65 Patrik 'f0rest' Lindberg Age: 30 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 1353 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.65 Fredrik 'REZ' Sterner Age: 20 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 617 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.65 Niels Christian 'NaToSaphiX' Sillassen Age: 21 Team: Sprout Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 400 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.60 Sprout #37 Martin 'PERCY' WesselTimo 'Spiidi' RichterDenis 'denis' HowellNiels Christian 'NaToSaphiX' SillassenDennis 'sycrone' Nielsen