EPL Group B Review: NiP at the Top?!

In a group alongside G2 Esports, Vitality, FaZe, and mousesports, the Ninjas in Pyjamas have successfully completed a run for first place. The standings and player leaderboards offer some hints as to how that was actually possible.

FaZe Clan and mousesports make up the bottom of EPL Group B. This shortly after major roster changes, they can’t really be expected to play up to par with seasoned and accomplished European rosters. Christopher “dexter” Nong moved from Australia just weeks ago and definitely needs to acclimate to the new continent before he can unleash his lineup’s true potential. With a victory over G2 on the last match day, they can at least boast one convincing result.

FaZe don’t have that many excuses, though. Finn “karrigan” Andersen should arguably have had an easier time getting his team to perform. Just like mousesports, however, they woke up on the last match day. Waltzing over ENCE, they only dropped seven rounds across the entire Best-of-Three. With a 16-5 victory over Vitality, they at least showed some potential – despite losing the follow-up maps in the end.

Team Vitality remain just as underwhelming compared to their IEM Katowice run. The French players collapsed at the start of the year and the removal of Nabil “Nivera” Benrlitom has really hurt them. Since Vitality felt forced to abandon their six-man-strategy, the young Belgian will be unable to help out in the future. This now means that the five-man core of the team will have to perform without any kind of relief on the horizon for them.

G2 ESPORTS FAIL ON THE LAST STRETCH

Nikola “NiKo” Kovač and his men kicked off their ESL Pro League Season 13 campaign with fantastic victories over NiP and Vitality. Finally, their roster seemed to deliver on its promise. During the last two match days, they were only going to face the bottom two of EPL Group B, so their first-place finish was all but guaranteed.

Suddenly, they let themselves be overwhelmed by mousesports. The team, which actually hadn’t secured a single match victory in EPL until that point, quickly mounted a 2-0 win and kicked G2 Esports off their throne. Even though Nemanja “nexa” Isaković and the rest have still made playoffs, they have only done so in third place. In the next phase of EPL, they’ll get the opportunity to set things right – but with a first-place finish, they would have already landed in the Top 6. The Ninjas in Pyjamas now get to enjoy that bonus.

NIP TO PLAY-INS

After the Ninjas had dropped a 0-2 loss to G2 Esports on the first match day, they confidently powered through to a 4-1 finish, granting them first place in the group. Their path now leads through an intermediate phase of ESL Pro League Season 13. Before entering the playoffs, they will face Heroic in a Best-of-Three. This encounter will decide on who gets to advance to the Quarter Finals or the Semi Finals directly. In any case, they have already successfully made the Top 6, but they’ll try to win versus Heroic nonetheless.

But how did it come to this? After putting up a solid performance in the BLAST Premier: Group Stage, they bombed out of IEM Katowice. This has obviously changed going into EPL now. Even though Erik “ztr” Gustafsson failed to put up a great performance himself, his colleagues gave a great show. Tim “nawwk” Jonasson mounted a 1.16 rating for the event and even though he is sitting behind the likes of Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut, Robin “ropz” Kool and Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken, his team mates are there for support. Fredrik “REZ” Sterner, Nicolas “Plopski” Gonzalez Zamora, and Hampus “hampus” Johansson have all made the Top 10 of Group B.

WHY ARE ENCE THIS GOOD?

Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer’s career has unfortunately not been graced with a lot of highlight moments. Last year, he tried his hand at substituting for Astralis, but completely failed in that role. Later on, he led c0ntact into battle unsuccessfully. Eventually, he was called into the international ENCE project after the original Finnish roster had imploded. With a wild combination of players, he was supposed to run into battle and only few people gave them a fighting chance against the likes of Vitality and FaZe.

This makes their EPL finish all that more impressive. On the first match day, they mounted a 2-1 upset victory over mousesports and only gave away a close 1-2 to the Ninjas in Pyjamas later on. Their victory over G2 Esports finally announced them as a team to be feared in EPL and when they then secured a 2-0 finish over Vitality, making first place of Group B became a real option. With their weak outing against FaZe on the last match day, they demonstrated that they’re still a long ways away from consistent results – but at least they have now proven their immense potential.

After making second place of ESL Pro League Season 13 Group B, they’re now heading to the playoffs as well. They’ll be facing the likes of Complexity Gaming, FunPlus Phoenix, and G2 Esports. Heroic and NiP will be waiting for them later down the road and from the other groups, opponents such as Astralis, Natus Vincere, and Team Liquid get the opportunity to land alongside them in the bracket. For ENCE and the rest, survival in these EPL playoffs will become quite a challenging task.