TSM beat NiP to win FACEIT Stage 1

Team SoloMid came from behind to beat Ninjas in Pyjamas 2-1 and win FACEIT League 2015 Stage 1 (1-16 on de_inferno, 21-18 on de_dust2 and 16-12 on de_cache).

With the semi-finals of the FACEIT League 2015 Stage 1 finals taking place earlier in the day, TSM, who triumphed over fnatic, faced off against NiP, who edged out Virtus.pro in a three-map series. The map draw played out as such: de_inferno, de_dust2 and de_cache.

After a lengthy series of delays due to network issues that kept winding the clock back on the game's start, the match finally commenced with NiP taking pistol on their CT side and continuing to pull ahead on de_inferno.

TSM suceeded in taking the sixth round of the game, but it was not to be for the rest of the half as NiP continued a one-sided stomp, finishing 14-1 up as the half ended.

NiP engaged cruise control on de_inferno

Both teams opted to buy armor on the second pistol round, but it was the Swedish-Finnish NiP who had the stronger set of gear as they brawled their way onto A site and took the second pistol round of the game. From there, it was a matter of NiP taking an easy final round, and the map closed 16-1.

de_dust2, which was NiP's choice, began with another confident lead for Richard "⁠Xizt⁠" Landström and his men. However, TSM finally started to liven up a bit in the series and began to shut down NiP's pushes, equalising the score at 5-5.

The Danes continued to drive forward and secured their own CT side in their favour: 10-5. Though NiP managed to put in pistol work and secure three rounds, TSM continued to strengthen their own teamplay and moved forward until the score stood at 14-8.

With Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth easily carrying the day for TSM in terms of frags, an A-split by the Danes on the 25th round brought them match point; NiP rallied six rounds in a row by simply playing passive and not allowing TSM to gather positional advantages.

With the score at 15-14, Adam "⁠friberg⁠" Friberg picked up three important kills and forced the overtime.

Xyp9x powered TSM to a third map

The first round of overtime saw Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg and René "⁠cajunb⁠" Borg performing a tap dance in a one-versus-one, with the Dane ultimately prevailing. The next round, Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund carried his team's hopes with a monstrous three kill play in lower B. TSM managed to dispel any chance of an advantage for the Ninjas however by picking up the final rounds of the MR5 overtime, finishing at 19-16 up.

Despite NiP mounting a slight comeback, TSM defended A-site successfully on the 38th round, giving them map point. In the next round, TSM found their inner Zen and took de_dust with a score of 21-18.

With de_cache the final map of play, NiP easily claimed the pistol round in their favour. A third-round buy from TSM paid off and allowed the Danish team to break their opponents' momentum. After losing the following two eco rounds, NiP then showed great defensive work in B to equalise the game on three rounds.

TSM then picked up two rounds to bring the scoreline to 5-3 in their favour, but their streak was cut short by a triple kill from friberg during an A retake. However, the Ninjas were unable to follow it up with another round as they were caught off-guard in a force-buy A rush by the Danes. The former dignitas team added two more rounds to their tally, but NiP picked themselves up in the final stages of the half to cut the gap to 7-8.

In the second half, TSM came out the brighter and further enlarged their lead, but NiP acquitted themselves well in gun play and restored parity later on. However, TSM upped the pace in the dying stages and strung a few rounds together to seal victory and scoop the title, their second in the space of a week.

FACEIT League 2015 Stage 1 FinalsBest of 3 TSMMatchpage 2 1 3rd May 2015 Ninjas in Pyjamas 1Inferno 16 21Dust2 18 16Cache 12

TSM	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 1.0
Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethXyp9x	66 - 56	+10	-	1.16
Finn 'karrigan' Andersenkarrigan	61 - 62	-1	-	1.03
René 'cajunb' Borgcajunb	53 - 60	-7	-	0.91
Nicolai 'device' Reedtzdevice	47 - 60	-13	-	0.82
Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussendupreeh	42 - 61	-19	-	0.74

Ninjas in Pyjamas	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 1.0
Aleksi 'allu' Jalliallu	64 - 50	+14	-	1.15
Richard 'Xizt' LandströmXizt	61 - 53	+8	-	1.07
Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundGeT_RiGhT	61 - 55	+6	-	1.06
Patrik 'f0rest' Lindbergf0rest	56 - 54	+2	-	1.03
Adam 'friberg' Fribergfriberg	55 - 57	-2	-	0.93

FACEIT League 2015 Stage 1 final standings:

1. Team SoloMid
2. NiP
3-4. fnatic
3-4. Virtus.pro
5-6. Immunity
5-6. Null element Na`Vi
7-8. Team Liquid
7-8. eLevate

* Prize purse and money breakdown were not revealed by FACEIT

Richard 'Xizt' Landström Age: 24 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 675 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.63 René 'cajunb' Borg Age: 25 Team: TSM Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 311 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.64 Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund Age: 24 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.24 Maps played: 678 KPR: 0.83 DPR: 0.59 Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth Age: 19 Team: TSM Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 464 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.62 Adam 'friberg' Friberg Age: 23 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 672 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.65 Patrik 'f0rest' Lindberg Age: 26 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.20 Maps played: 669 KPR: 0.81 DPR: 0.62