NiP defeats BIG, secures place at BLAST.tv Paris Major

NiP defeats BIG, secures place at BLAST.tv Paris Major

15. April 2023 by Andrew Williams

The Ninjas in Pyjamas defeated German team BIG to earn a spot at the BLAST.Tv Paris Major. FORZE, NiP and ENCE also rejoiced, while Aurora and B8’s trip to the Major is over.

FORZE defeats Aurora

Surprisingly FORZE managed to qualify for the Paris Major, beating Aurora on the way there. They very closely missed qualification for IEM Rio last year, so it’s a step forward for them! The Russian team entered the RMR in promising form after reaching the playoffs at EPL S17.

After losing their first match against Cloud9, they managed to defeat first ENCE and then Ninjas in Pyjamas. Their first attempt to qualify for the Major failed against Monte, but the tide turned back in their favor in their second match against Aurora.

BIG loses to Ninjas in Pyjamas.

Ninjas in Pyjamas defeated BIG 2-0 (Vertigo 16-11, Mirage 22-20). They have thus qualified for the BLAST.tv Paris Major. BIG was then relegated to the Last Chance Qualifier round. NiP will compete at the Paris Major from the Challengers Stage after dominating the RMR Swiss Stage with wins over Eternal Fire, Astralis and BIG. At IEM Rio last year, the European team was eliminated from the Legends Stage after several losses with a 0-3 record.

The team now has the opportunity to put the Brazil defeat behind them and show what they are really capable of in Paris. NiP faced Eternal Fire, FORZE and Vitality in their first three matches, losing to the last two teams. The Ninjas in Pyjamas then made short work of Astralis before securing their ticket to the Major with victory over BIG.

ENCE dominates Cloud9

ENCE won 2-0 over Cloud9 (19-16 Ancient, 16-12 Vertigo) to secure the final spot for the Paris Major at Europe RMR. ENCE didn’t have a good start in the tournament, but managed to do a 180 degree turnaround. ENCE lost to Monte and FORZE in Bo1 matches before defeating iNation, 500, and most recently Cloud9 2-0 in three consecutive matches to qualify for Paris.

NertZ posted an astounding average score of 1.40 in the eight maps played at the EU RMR, far outperforming the rest of his team. ENCE now has the opportunity to show their best form again at the Paris Major.

B8 and AURORA are out

Two teams have already been eliminated from the Last Chance Qualifier. B8 and Aurora had to face Cloud9 and FaZe and both lost 2-0. Despite their elimination, both B8 and Aurora will be proud of their performances at the RMR. B8 was put into the lesser EU RMR A, but defeated first MOUZ and then Virtus.pro to reach the 2-0 pool. They were unable to win a Bo3 series, however, as subsequent losses to fnatic, Into the Breach, and Apeks relegated them to the Last Chance Qualifier.

Aurora had to compete in the heavily seeded EU RMR B, but still managed to qualify by a narrow margin. They defeated Spirit in the first round and then suffered two bitter 14-16 losses to Heroic and G2 to be eliminated. A win against Eternal Fire put them in the 2-2 pool, but they couldn’t beat FORZE and were relegated to the Last Chance Qualifier. There they faced FaZe and Aurora had no chance to prevail against the top team.