While many thought that IEM Oakland would be SK Gaming's time to get back in the spotlight, Ninjas in Pyjamas shocked the world with a big win in the grand finals.
Despite their struggles lately, Ninjas in Pyjamas showed they are very much alive in the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive competitive scene with the IEM win, picking up a cool $128,000 for their troubles. Meanwhile the loss Sunday marks the second time in as many tournaments that SK have fallen just short. While they may be earning finals appearances, it's clear SK Gaming have some work to do if it hopes to regain its swagger from last year, when they dominated the competitive scene.
SK takes down Astralis
SK Gaming and Astralis opened up the final day of IEM Oakland with fireworks, as the two teams battled it out for a spot in the grand finals. SK got off to a quick 5-0 lead before faltering quite a bit into the second half. Astralis surged all the way to a 14-9 lead before SK finally found its groove once again. Fernando "fer" Alvarenga was a big part of that comeback, going 12/2 in the final seven rounds that SK won to take the first map 16-14. With the win, SK are now an outstanding 26-2 on Train in LAN matches. SK's unbelievable amount of success on Train may force opposing teams to ban the map immediately if they hope to have any easier shot at winning a respective series.
The series transitioned to Mirage -- Astralis' pick for the series -- for the second game, and it was just as closely contested as Game 1. SK once again got off to a quick lead, this time 4-0, before going into the half up 11-4. The Brazilian squad wasn't able to pull away once the second half started, though. Astralis made it interesting, rallying back to within one round, staring at a 13-12 deficit. From there, SK stabilized and won three straight rounds to take the series. It was Epitacio "TACO" de Melo's big 1 vs. 2 clutch to win the final round that propelled SK to the grand finals to face Ninjas in Pyjamas.
Ninjas in Pyjamas take down FaZe Clan
This hotly contested series started off with Ninjas in Pyjamas' map pick of Nuke, which would have made you think that they would take the series pretty easily. That couldn't have been further from the truth. While they did get off to a great start with a 10-5 lead at the half, their CT-side faltered in a big way as FaZe forced overtime. Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg came up big for the pajama-clad ninjas in overtime, going 6/0 in the four consecutive round wins to take the first map by a score of 19-15.
While the Ninjas seemed to struggle a bit on its map choice in Game 1, FaZe Clan made sure to dominate while on its pick of Train in Game 2. It also took a 10-5 lead into the half, but managed to hold on in a big way to easily wrap up the 16-6 win and force a decisive Game 3. While Game 3 didn't go into overtime, the final match in the series was just as close as the first. Ninjas in Pyjamas took a 9-6 lead into the half before the teams both won seven rounds in the second half. Thankfully for Ninjas, that halftime lead proved to be the difference and netted them a 16-13 win that put them on a collision course to meet SK in the grand finals of IEM Oakland.
Ninjas in Pyjamas upset SK Gaming
Right from the start, Ninjas in Pyjamas made a curious decision opting to allow SK Gaming to select the map Train for Game 1, especially given their success on the map as of late (26-2 in LAN matches on the map). This odd move inevitably led to SK gaining a quick 1-0 lead after taking Game 1 by a score of 16-4. Lincoln "fnx" Lau led the way with his 18/11 KD and 106.4 ADR as SK improved to 27-2 on Train at LAN events.
Despite all of SK's success on Train in Game 1, it all came crashing down in Game 2 on Ninjas' pick of Cache. SK didn't go away quietly, though. The Swedish squad got out to a 12-5 lead before SK came roaring back, nearly forcing overtime. Waiting with bated breath to shut the door on SK's comeback was none other than f0rest, who dropped 30 kills on SK to take the map 16-14 and send the grand finals to a Game 3.
In a somewhat surprising result, with the game on the line, it was Ninjas in Pyjamas who would come out on top. They took a big 10-5 lead into the half, but SK once again came back to make things interesting. The Brazilian juggernauts would actually take a 13-11 lead before the Ninjas would band together to win five of the next six rounds and take the IEM title home. Adam "friberg" Friberg may have been at the bottom of the scoreboard for Ninjas in Pyjamas overall in the series, but he came to play during Game 3 with a 27/21 KD and 94.8 ADR.