Björn "⁠THREAT⁠" Pers’s men came back from a 6-12 deficit on Inferno with an outstanding offence to stay alive in Group B.

Ninjas in Pyjamas have defeated fnatic to move on in Group B’s lower bracket following a 2-1 victory over their Swedish rivals, which demonstrated the Flashpoint 3 runners-up’s resilience as they turned around an unlikely position on the decider map thanks to a monstrous 2.28-rated T side performance from Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner. Meanwhile, Spirit were unstoppable against Imperial, crushing the Brazilians on Mirage (16-4) and Dust2 (16-3).

With their respective wins, Ninjas in Pyjamas will move on in Group B's lower bracket to face off against the loser of HEROIC and Evil Geniuses on Saturday at 13:30 , while Spirit await the loser of OG and Virtus.pro in the next round on the same day at 16:45 .

REZ was the difference-maker in the series with a 1.45 impact rating

Two players were primarily responsible for their team’s wins on the first two maps. REZ put up a strong performance on Ancient, the first time either side had played the new map in an official, to help the Ninjas strike first blood in the series, while Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin was the driving force for fnatic on Overpass with 10 multi-kill rounds (30-12 KD-D, 132.7 ADR).

It was the Freddy "⁠KRIMZ⁠" Johansson show at the start of Inferno. The veteran rifler was unstoppable on the Terrorist side, leading his team to a 9-0 start on the offence with 17 kills, but Ninjas in Pyjamas eventually got on the board in the 10th to kick-start an outstanding comeback. After finding themselves down 6-12, REZ and Nicolas "⁠Plopski⁠" Gonzalez Zamora awoke to outshine their opponent’s T half to win 10 out of the subsequent 11 rounds and lock down the map 16-13.

Spirit put on an imperious display against Imperial with no weak links in sight. The Brazilians, who looked less than inspired, won a total of seven rounds over both maps as the CIS side wreaked havoc. An Abdul "⁠degster⁠" Gasanov and Viktor "⁠sdy⁠" Orudzhev masterclass on Mirage was followed up with a superb showing from Nikolay "⁠mir⁠" Bityukov on Dust2, who posted a 2.03 rating and 142.6 ADR to wrap up the series with a 16-3 scoreline.

IEM Summer 2021Best of 3 Ninjas in PyjamasMatchpage 2 1 4th June 2021 fnatic 16Ancient 10 8Overpass 16 16Inferno 13

Ninjas in Pyjamas	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Fredrik 'REZ' SternerREZ	65 - 50	+15	84.3	1.26
Nicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez ZamoraPlopski	53 - 54	-1	70.7	1.07
Nicolai 'device' Reedtzdevice	40 - 48	-8	65.9	0.94
Linus 'LNZ' HoltängLNZ	45 - 52	-7	60.2	0.90
Hampus 'hampus' Poserhampus	41 - 55	-14	66.5	0.86

fnatic	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Ludvig 'Brollan' BrolinBrollan	66 - 52	+14	96.2	1.31
Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonKRIMZ	58 - 54	+4	84.6	1.10
Jack 'Jackinho' Ström MattssonJackinho	46 - 44	+2	59.0	0.97
Jesper 'JW' WecksellJW	44 - 44	0	63.8	0.97
Maikil 'Golden' SelimGolden	44 - 51	-7	73.1	0.94

IEM Summer 2021Best of 3 ImperialMatchpage 0 2 4th June 2021 Spirit 4Mirage 16 3Dust2 16

Imperial	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Arthur 'f4stzin' Schmittf4stzin	26 - 34	-8	70.9	0.88
Fernando 'fer' Alvarengafer	28 - 37	-9	77.9	0.81
Cristopher 'ckzao' Chalusckzao	15 - 33	-18	50.5	0.63
Caio 'zqkS' FonsecazqkS	20 - 34	-14	60.3	0.61
Gustavo 'SHOOWTiME' GonçalvesSHOOWTiME	11 - 34	-23	41.3	0.44

Spirit	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Abdul 'degster' Gasanovdegster	37 - 19	+18	106.5	1.68
Nikolay 'mir' Bityukovmir	39 - 23	+16	109.9	1.61
Boris 'magixx' Vorobievmagixx	35 - 21	+14	83.1	1.53
Viktor 'sdy' Orudzhevsdy	34 - 19	+15	81.8	1.43
Leonid 'chopper' Vishnyakovchopper	27 - 18	+9	70.8	1.17

OG #20 Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn VangsåAleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenNikolaj 'niko' KristensenMateusz 'mantuu' WilczewskiShahar 'flameZ' Shushan Imperial Ludvig 'Brollan' Brolin Age: 18 Team: fnatic Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 858 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.67 Björn 'THREAT' Pers Age: 33 Team: Ninjas in PyjamasC Freddy 'KRIMZ' Johansson Age: 27 Team: fnatic Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 1645 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.64 Nicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez Zamora Age: 19 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 819 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.66 Virtus.pro #9 Sanjar 'SANJI' KulievTimur 'buster' TulepovAlexey 'Qikert' GolubevDzhami 'Jame' AliMareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis Evil Geniuses #38 Michał 'MICHU' MüllerPeter 'stanislaw' JarguzVincent 'Brehze' CayonteTsvetelin 'CeRq' DimitrovOwen 'oBo' Schlatter Spirit #14 Leonid 'chopper' VishnyakovNikolay 'mir' BityukovViktor 'sdy' OrudzhevAbdul 'degster' GasanovBoris 'magixx' Vorobiev Time is adjusted to your selected timezone Nikolay 'mir' Bityukov Age: 25 Team: Spirit Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 881 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.66 HEROIC #2 Casper 'cadiaN' MøllerIsmail 'refrezh' AliMartin 'stavn' LundRené 'TeSeS' MadsenRasmus 'sjuush' Beck Abdul 'degster' Gasanov Age: 19 Team: Spirit Rating 1.0: 1.19 Maps played: 500 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.61 Viktor 'sdy' Orudzhev Age: 24 Team: Spirit Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 895 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.63 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 Fredrik 'REZ' Sterner Age: 23 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 1148 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.67