OG, Virtus.pro victorious in final set of IEM Summer opening matches

OG’s attack was too much for Ninjas in Pyjamas to handle on Mirage.

The final two IEM Summer best-of-ones have been played, with OG and Virtus.pro defeating Ninjas in Pyjamas and fnatic, respectively, giving way to the best-of-three series.

fnatic, who have had a troublesome season so far and have plummeted in the rankings all the way to being on the verge of falling out of the top 30, were no match for Virtus.pro in their opener on Vertigo.

In the other server OG and Ninjas in Pyjamas played a close first half on Mirage, but it was finally the Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen-led team that outmatched their opponents on the attack.

"We know that we’re going to win after the first few rounds when everyone is talking, everyone is happy, everyone is smiling." Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan said when asked about the positive atmosphere perceived in the OG side. "The most basic things affect so much in the game."

mantuu ended the match against NIP with 107.5 ADR

Ninjas in Pyjamas broke OG by winning a second round forcebuy, taking a 2-1 lead, but the European combine quickly restabilized on the defense to go up 5-2 until a set piece on a forcebuy got the Swedish team right back in contention in an extremely close half that ended up with Mateusz "⁠mantuu⁠" Wilczewski and company in the lead, 8-7. OG then charged ahead on the attack, making what had been a tight map into a one-sided affair, giving up just two rounds on the way to a 16-9 victory.

Virtus.pro were quick out of the gate on the attacking side of Vertigo, giving up only two rounds in the first half as fnatic failed to put up a strong CT side. The Swedes kept the map going on the attacking side and made an attempt to correct their abysmal first half, even reaching double digits, but were unable to turn the map around as Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali and Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis powered their team to a 16-10 victory.

IEM Summer 2021Best of 1 Ninjas in PyjamasMatchpage 9 16 3rd June 2021 OG 9Mirage 16

Ninjas in Pyjamas	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Fredrik 'REZ' SternerREZ	17 - 20	-3	83.1	1.12
Hampus 'hampus' Poserhampus	18 - 17	+1	79.1	1.09
Nicolai 'device' Reedtzdevice	16 - 18	-2	63.4	1.00
Linus 'LNZ' HoltängLNZ	13 - 16	-3	63.2	0.88
Nicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez ZamoraPlopski	11 - 18	-7	43.8	0.61

OG	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Mateusz 'mantuu' Wilczewskimantuu	23 - 13	+10	107.5	1.61
Shahar 'flameZ' ShushanflameZ	23 - 16	+7	91.8	1.39
Nikolaj 'niko' Kristensenniko	18 - 17	+1	60.6	1.04
Aleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenAleksib	13 - 14	-1	69.4	0.98
Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn Vangsåvalde	11 - 15	-4	53.7	0.80

IEM Summer 2021Best of 1 fnaticMatchpage 10 16 3rd June 2021 Virtus.pro 10Vertigo 16

fnatic	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Jack 'Jackinho' Ström MattssonJackinho	18 - 16	+2	75.4	1.09
Ludvig 'Brollan' BrolinBrollan	17 - 19	-2	73.3	1.01
Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonKRIMZ	16 - 22	-6	80.0	0.93
Jesper 'JW' WecksellJW	15 - 23	-8	65.0	0.71
Maikil 'Golden' SelimGolden	10 - 19	-9	44.1	0.62

Virtus.pro	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Dzhami 'Jame' AliJame	26 - 11	+15	105.0	1.70
Mareks 'YEKINDAR' GaļinskisYEKINDAR	23 - 17	+6	89.7	1.36
Alexey 'Qikert' GolubevQikert	20 - 16	+4	71.5	1.18
Sanjar 'SANJI' KulievSANJI	18 - 18	0	79.2	1.08
Timur 'buster' Tulepovbuster	12 - 17	-5	58.3	0.81

OG will face Virtus.pro next in the Group B upper bracket, while Ninjas in Pyjamas and fnatic will go up against each other in the lower bracket, but before that the tournament will continue with Gambit taking on Vitality for a spot in the playoffs and Sprout playing Complexity for survival in the upcoming round of matches.

Vitality #12 Richard 'shox' PapillonDan 'apEX' MadesclaireMathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautKévin 'misutaaa' RabierJayson 'Kyojin' Nguyen Van Dzhami 'Jame' Ali Age: 22 Team: Virtus.pro Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 1019 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.55 OG #20 Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn VangsåAleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenNikolaj 'niko' KristensenMateusz 'mantuu' WilczewskiShahar 'flameZ' Shushan Sprout #31 Timo 'Spiidi' RichterDenis 'denis' HowellMarko 'kressy' ĐorđevićJosef 'faveN' BaumannFritz 'slaxz-' Dietrich Complexity #13 Justin 'jks' SavageWilliam 'RUSH' WierzbaKristian 'k0nfig' WieneckeValentin 'poizon' VasilevBenjamin 'blameF' Bremer Gambit #1 Abay 'HObbit' KhassenovTimofey 'interz' YakushinSergey 'Ax1Le' RykhtorovDmitry 'sh1ro' SokolovVladislav 'nafany' Gorshkov Mateusz 'mantuu' Wilczewski Age: 23 Team: OG Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 589 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.63 Shahar 'flameZ' Shushan Age: 17 Team: OG Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 276 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.67 Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen Age: 24 Team: OG Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 893 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.66 Virtus.pro #9 Sanjar 'SANJI' KulievTimur 'buster' TulepovAlexey 'Qikert' GolubevDzhami 'Jame' AliMareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis Age: 21 Team: Virtus.pro Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 942 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.70 fnatic #29 Jesper 'JW' WecksellFreddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonMaikil 'Golden' SelimLudvig 'Brollan' BrolinJack 'Jackinho' Ström Mattsson Ninjas in Pyjamas #10 Nicolai 'device' ReedtzFredrik 'REZ' SternerHampus 'hampus' PoserNicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez ZamoraLinus 'LNZ' Holtäng