Evil Geniuses falter to Ninjas in Pyjamas
The third day of the BLAST Premier Spring Groups has come to a close, with the final match of the day seeing Evil Geniuses tussles with NIP in the lower bracket of Group A. After two hotly contested maps, including a double-overtime scoreline on the first, the Swedish side eventually conquered Evil Geniuses, sending them to the Knockout Stage of the event.
Looking to bounce back after a tough loss against Vitality on day one of play, Evil Geniuses immediately fell into a deficit on the first map of Inferno following a pistol-round victory from the Swedes. After NIP procured a 5-1 lead, Evil Geniuses kicked into gear on their T-side, accruing seven of the next eight rounds to secure a lead at the half, with NIP claiming the final round to finish with an 8-7 scoreline for the Americans.
Kicking off their CT-side, Evil Geniuses laid claim to a pistol round win of their own, allowing them to reach double digits with an 11-7 scoreline. The two squads began to trade streaks of rounds, and although the Geniuses would go on to secure match point first, NIP valiantly continued their comeback efforts, dragging the map into overtime. Overtime was much like regulation, in that EG were the first to secure match point, but their lead soon slipped away from them, taking the map to double overtime. The Geniuses were unable to replicate their from earlier in the map, as NIP snatched Inferno with a 22-20 scoreline.
Despite the tantalizingly close loss on Inferno, NIP's pick of Vertigo started off far better for the Geniuses than Inferno, as a pistol round win on the CT-side allowed the Americans to take an early 6-0 lead. Unphased by this development, NIP responded with a dominant streak of their own, bagging nine rounds straight to win out the half even despite the early missteps.
NIP continued their winning ways in the second half's pistol round, but Evil Geniuses quickly responded with a force-buy win to string together five rounds of their own, taking back control of the game with an 11-10 scoreline. Despite losing the lead, NIP quickly rallied their forces to put up six rounds in a row, allowing them to close out the series, albeit in belabored fashion, 2-0.
Evil GeniusesNinjas in Pyjamas| Evil Geniuses |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Timothy 'autimatic' Ta |
56 - 50 | +6 | 88.3 | 65.2% | 1.14 |
 Jadan 'HexT' Postma |
49 - 50 | -1 | 83.9 | 72.5% | 1.07 |
| Jeorge 'Jeorge' Endicott |
40 - 46 | -6 | 71.4 | 72.5% | 0.96 |
| Paytyn 'junior' Johnson |
42 - 45 | -3 | 60.7 | 63.8% | 0.93 |
| Colby 'Walco' Walsh |
33 - 46 | -13 | 58.9 | 62.3% | 0.84 |
| Ninjas in Pyjamas |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Daniil 'headtr1ck' Valitov |
61 - 35 | +26 | 87.3 | 78.3% | 1.46 |
 Ludvig 'Brollan' Brolin |
53 - 49 | +4 | 85.9 | 71.0% | 1.14 |
| Fredrik 'REZ' Sterner |
43 - 43 | +0 | 72.9 | 73.9% | 1.06 |
| Hampus 'hampus' Poser |
44 - 46 | -2 | 73.0 | 71.0% | 0.99 |
 Kristian 'k0nfig' Wienecke |
36 - 50 | -14 | 63.1 | 72.5% | 0.86 |
Evil Geniuses will now be waiting for the Knockout Stage to be populated, with the squad slated to face the third-place team from Group C, featuring FaZe, OG, Liquid, and G2.
