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Ninjas in Pyjamas found its first series victory of the split with a 2-0 sweep over Team ROCCAT on Saturday to begin Week 8, Day 3 of the European League of Legends Championship Series in Berlin.
The first game looked like one might expect from a matchup of low-tier teams. Leads were thrown back and forth, with Ninjas in Pyjamas (1-10, 4-20 match record) jumping out to an early advantage only for ROCCAT (3-7, 10-16) to take it back in the mid game.
ROCCAT even came within inches of taking Game 1 with a backdoor maneuver from top laner Ambroz "Phaxi" Hren's Gnar leaving the NiP Nexus at a mere 89 hit points. However, the attempt ultimately cost ROCCAT a Baron and then the game, as NiP shoved down mid lane with the buff to pick up the win. Game 2 was significantly cleaner, as NiP managed to hold onto its early lead and take every single teamfight to complete the sweep.
While the series was hardly perfect from NiP, the same can't be said for its jungler, Ilyas "Shook" Hartsema. Known for his consistent first bloods and occasional immaculate games, Shook showcased both in this series on the tanks Sejuani and Maokai. Shook participated in first blood in both games and maintained high kill participation and a low death count throughout the series. Tag-teaming with Shook was support Hampus "sprattel" Mikael Abrahamsson, who paired Braum with Sejuani and Alistar with Maokai to form inescapable engage duos with his jungler. These engagements quite literally gave NiP its first series win of the split.
With the win, Ninjas in Pyjamas keeps its slim hopes of avoiding the promotion tournament alive. It'll take on Misfits at 11 a.m. ET next Saturday. ROCCAT, meanwhile, is barely within playoff contention and will need a strong game against Fnatic, whom it plays at 2 p.m. ET on Friday, to keep pace.