9INE and NiP survive and advance to Group Stage of IEM Cologne 2023

All the teams qualified for the Group Stage of IEM Cologne 2023 have been defined, and the last two teams to seal their ticket were 9INE and NiP, who had to fight at all times in Round 2 of the Lower Bracket to stay alive in the tournament.

On the part of 9INE, we can say that they were the second surprise of this tournament since they achieved an excellent victory over Team Liquid by 1-2 to eliminate one of the strongest teams in this Play-In Phase. On the other hand, NiP defeated the second Brazilian team in the tournament, Imperial Esports. Still, they had to come back from a very complicated series after losing on the first map.

Let’s see what happened in the series of 9INE and NiP on the last day of the Play-In Phase of the IEM Cologne 2023.

9INE beat Team Liquid with a comeback included

Undoubtedly, all bets were on Team Liquid in this BO3, as their new lineup has proven to be up to the task. However, 9INE managed to bounce back from the loss on the first map to come from behind and take a 2-1 win to qualify for the Group Stage.

It all started on Ancient, Team Liquid’s map pick, where Josh “oSee” Ohm displayed all his talent to lead Liquid to an excellent victory. With Team Liquid on their T-side in the first half, the now-European squad managed to take a partial victory by 9-6. Then, at the change of sides, the Poles tried to wake up to comeback on the scoreboard, but Team Liquid implemented a great defense to take a solid 16-10 victory.

On the second map, Vertigo, things took a 180° turn, as 9INE more than proved why this was their map selection. In the first half, the Poles gave a defensive lecture to Team Liquid to take a solid and comfortable 13-2 victory. At the change of sides, Liquid managed to win four of the first five rounds, but this was not enough, as 9INE evened the series 1-1 after a resounding 16-6 victory.

Overpass

Finally, in an extraordinary back-and-forth map, Overpass, 9INE completed their comeback in the series to seal their qualification to the Group Stage. In the first half, Team Liquid had it in their hands to open the scoring and take a big lead, but the Poles managed to win six rounds out of the last eight to take an 8-7 partial victory on their side T. Then, at the sides’ turn, the balance tipped in 9INE’s favor, and with a solid defense, they took the victory by 16-12.

.@9INEGG ELIMINATE @TeamLiquidCS from the #IEM Cologne Play-in Stage in a 2-1 Victory!

10-16 Ancient
16-6 Vertigo
16-12 Overpass pic.twitter.com/pJxQYVws1v

— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) July 28, 2023

NiP suffered but applied a reverse sweep against Imperial Esports

There is no doubt that everything pointed to NiP could have a comfortable victory in this series and, even more so, considering the level shown by the team so far. However, Imperial Esports showed excellent South American grit to make things much more complicated. Finally, NiP had to apply a reverse sweep to take the victory and qualify for the Group Stage.

It all started in Overpass, Imperial’s map pick, where the Brazilian squad showed an excellent level of play led by Vinicius “VINI” Figueiredo. After an even first half, which ended with a score of 8-7 in favor of NiP, Imperial avoided each of NiP’s approaches to take the victory by 16-13.

Then, in the second map, Ancient, NiP began to tilt the balance in their favor, as they achieved a convincing victory in the first half by 12-3. Then, at the change of sides, the Brazilians had little to do, and NiP evened the series 1-1 after a comfortable 16-6 victory.

Finally, Nuke was the stage where we had a lot of emotions from start to finish. NiP took a 9-6 partial victory in the first half, which left the map wide open. Imperial could deploy a great defense at the change of sides to equalize the map 15-15 and play the Overtime. However, NiP managed to win four consecutive rounds to take the 19-15 victory and seal their ticket to the Group Stage of IEM Cologne 2023.

THE FINAL TEAM ADVANCING TO THE #IEM COLOGNE 2023 GROUP STAGE@NIPCS 👏 pic.twitter.com/5RwOOfSVa8

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) July 28, 2023

Header: ESL