Astralis beat Ninjas in Pyjamas 2-1 to reach World Cup playoffs

Astralis defeated Ninjas in Pyjamas 2-1 (13-3, 10-13, 13-7) at the Esports World Cup Paris LAN on the Group B lower-bracket stage to secure the penultimate playoff spot. The match followed Astralis’ earlier upper-bracket loss to Falcons.

Astralis opened the series on Nuke and won the map 13-3. The team limited Ninjas in Pyjamas to three first-half rounds and controlled opening duels. Victor “Staehr” Staehr produced an immaculate 1v4 clutch and added further key rounds as Astralis closed the map with a dominant defense of opening positions.

Inferno favored Ninjas in Pyjamas, who recovered from an early deficit to win 13-10. Gytis “ryu” Glušauskas had a quad kill and a 1v2 clutch that created scoring opportunities for Astralis, but NIP built a 7-2 lead and converted late-round scenarios to hold on after the side swap. Kacper “xKacpersky” Gabara produced a force-buy quad kill and other entry kills that helped NIP finish the map.

Cache decided the series. Astralis took an early 6-1 lead by neutralizing opening aggression from xKacpersky and Roman “n0te” Hamze. Ninjas in Pyjamas recovered late in the first half but failed to regain momentum after the swap. Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard hit a triple in the pistol round after the change of sides and Astralis extended economic control to run out the map 13-7.

Individual statistics reflected the series results. Staehr led Astralis with 53 kills, 36 deaths, a 104.6 ADR and a 1.51 rating. Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen finished 42-37 with an 84.7% KAST and a 1.22 rating. Gytis “ryu” Glušauskas posted 44-35 and a 1.20 rating. For Ninjas in Pyjamas, xKacpersky recorded 42 kills, a 79.0 ADR and a 1.13 rating, while Martin “stavn” Lund had 41 kills and a 1.05 rating.

After the match, Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen told interviewer Freya Spiers, “It’s not the limit. We can go way further if we want. It depends on who shows up on the day, if it’s the good or bad Astralis, but I think today was good so we’ll try to catch the momentum.”

Astralis advance to the bracket stage of the Esports World Cup and will face one of the remaining qualified teams. Ninjas in Pyjamas are eliminated at this stage after the lower-bracket loss.