Misfits had put a lot of work into trying to deconstruct the Ninjas in Pyjamas strategy. It paid off with a 3-1 victory to win the Semi-Final; Misfits looked solid at all times.

Misfits came into this game fresh from a roll against LG and despite using two new players their synergy looked perfect. This would be the first real test for NiP; Kryw before the match alluded to preparation that they had put in to counter the tank-heavy strategy of the Finns. For NiP, hymzi had to shine with his hooks to open up the match against a team with better firepower and ultimate usage.

This match was the first of the EU playoffs. The map elimination process left five maps in the pool: NiP vs. Misfits would begin on Gibraltar, with loser’s pick deciding the order of Route 66, Hollywood, King’s Row, and Eichenwalde.

Watchpoint: Gibraltar

NiP had a great record on Gibraltar before this match. Their defense on the first checkpoint had been great against previous opponents and they began with it again. Zuppehw and kynnel supported four tanks around the server room, waiting for hymzi to land a hook. He missed SoOn on Tracer but took two others out to close out the first fight, however the threat of the Tracer appeared to be a good counter to the server room hold.

The lack of mobility hurt NiP as they couldn’t dodge a Graviton and Pulse Bomb combo that sucked in and killed four, letting Misfits into the hangar. zappis switched from Winston to dps to give some sting to their fight and the rest of his team set up high. Every time Misfits came in, fragi dropped onto them with the rest of his team to collapse and win the fight; Misfits seemed to lack verticality in their composition and couldn’t get close enough to NiP, wiping in the penultimate push. NiP had blown all of their ultimates too early though and didn’t reset their positioning, thinking they’d won, giving Misfits a free route through hangar.

Photo Credit: gamingnautti

Again the cart went into overtime as Misfits struggled against a powerful defense but eventually came out with a good push. SoOn and Nevix combined on McCree and Reaper for a huge amount of damage and overpowered the tanks. The counter to hymzi’s hooks was found in clutch bubbles from Kryw, feeding him charge and stealing the map away from NiP. Despite an excellent showing, a single slip cost them two checkpoints and potentially the map.

NiP now had to complete the map and began with three tanks and a Mei. The icewall usage on slope split people off and, when combined with hooks, led to NiP taking so many 6v1s. They individually picked apart the Misfits defense and staggered their spawns to give quick entry into hangar.

Four metres away from the end of the hangar, Nevix baited attention onto himself on Mei and let SoOn again rip into the tanks on Reaper. He carried another fight straight afterwards with a Nanoboost and let his team hold forward again. It chopped a reasonable amount of time off the clock but NiP could not be stopped, simply waiting for a Graviton and Pulse Bomb to prise the defense open.

They built themselves an ultimate advantage and looked to snowball, Nanoboosting fragi for a wipe and pushing forward with a Whole Hog; a counter-Nanoboosted SoOn turned the Hog to pulled pork to waste more time. fragi was the man with the magic in the end as he took a bubble and speedboosted in to hit a four-man Earthshatter and let NiP complete. They left 1:36 in their timebank compared to Misfits’ minute.

NiP’s previous defense had easily held for a minute and again they proved too strong. Their combination of hooks, Icewalls, and a final Ana ult shut down Misfits. All NiP had to do was push up the slope to win Gibraltar.

Within the first 30 seconds hymzi and fragi had fallen. zappis swapped from Pharah to Mei, moving them back to a more pick-based composition. They instantly found ryb isolated but his team leapt in to help, saving the Swedish tank and wiping NiP again in the process. There were 20 seconds left and NiP had to dive onto the cart against a huge ultimate disadvantage - SoOn and Nevix had been too fed on Reaper and Mei, and carnage ensued around the cart. It was frozen meat on the menu as NiP got blown away.

Misfits had been put up against the wall but proved that they could clutch the crazy defenses when required. They stole away map one on Gibraltar.

Hollywood

Nevix again picked up Mei to attack, trying to wall off the majority of NiP to overtake security. NiP slipped past in its hasty erection and wiped them to hold. fragi then had a cheeky flank to staircase and dropped an Earthshatter from behind to stall Misfits out again. Misfits cautiously approached the point then speedboosted in, combining damage from Nevix and SoOn to take the area.

Despite some good play from zappis on Tracer his team couldn’t hold forward and had to drop back. They were pushed onto the back foot and unbalanced, forced all the way to last with still 3 minutes to defend. After chaining deaths and feeding ultimates for Misfits, they found themselves in a horrible position to defend the final area. A Nano-Blossom came in to clear the path and ryb drove forward to protect and secure it for his team. Misfits completed Hollywood with 1:52 remaining.

NiP decided they needed to increase the pick potential and added a Hanzo to the mix. zappis couldn’t find anything though and instead was forced to engage in the Mei vs. Mei battle which Nevix dominated. He was a crucial player for his team, darting out damage with icy headshots and controlling the area all around the point. As NiP were focused on the capture point and eliminating him, SoOn repeatedly dropped from above to Blossom in and deliver death. The combination was too strong and worked excellently against their repetitive ‘over the point’ engagement.

Misfits went up 2-0 with a perfect performance on Hollywood, and NiP would have to adapt to come back on Eichenwalde.

Eichenwalde

Match point for Misfits, whose performance on the previous Hybrid point had been superb. Nevix again picked up Mei for a duel against zappis as he tried to crack the NiP defense. hymzi was focused down instantly once the walls fell but mafu and fragi were able to collapse just in time. After a wipe from a Graviton Surge delayed the attack a little, SoOn went in to engage.

In one of the most ridiculous Reaper plays of the tournament he got hooked in, saved by a bubble, blocked by a friendly Icewall, and then had to Shadowstep out through house - the dodging and evasion once that ability faded made for a truly fantastic play, especially since he instantly returned with health, Nanoboost, and a Death Blossom to utterly crush NiP and give his team the point.

Once NiP got to the bridge they looked utterly in control though. Clutches by zappis with Mei’s selfheal combined with great tanky repushes to keep Misfits away from the cart and locked out before the second checkpoint. Even though Misfits had an opportunity to win the fixture with a better defense, NiP had done well enough to give them a great chance of taking the map.

The Ninjas breezed through the first point but had trouble entering the castle grounds with heigh disadvantage. They had so much time to crack it though and it was just an inevitability after their great first point attack; with over three minutes remaining NiP used their ultimates to reach the bridge and get within touching distance of the map win.

ryb decided to take up BASE jumping halfway through a push and, looking over the edge at his doom, plunged into the moat. Without a tank to line up behind his team began to take too much damage and NiP got over the line to bring themselves to 2-1 in the series.

King’s Row

It hadn’t worked on Hollywood but they tried it on King’s Row anyway, as NiP began with Hanzo on attack. It was the sniper of Zuppehw who took the first two picks and NiP were able to get onto the point and pop a Nano onto fragi. He couldn’t find a thing though and uncharacteristically got kited to let Misfits retake the point and delay for a further minute.

NiP came through the streets fairly unopposed but whiffed a Zarya and Hanzo ult combination to reset the momentum just after second. They rallied with zappis on Pharah, and mafu helped his team win a big teamfight through excellent Particle Barrier placement. They steamrolled into the final stretch and denied the spawners to complete King’s Row with 1:34 left.

Misfits had to complete the map for a chance to close out the fixture. They failed push after push but never committed an ultimate, building up a huge bank for one big attempt. With 90 seconds remaining they came up with five ults, swarming into the point but getting devastated by NiP’s tanks. They got wiped again fresh off the respawn and had only one opportunity left to cap as the clock ticked down; the Sound Barrier let SoOn get into a position where he could hard carry his team. He dug deep and came up with enough kills and damage for Misfits to unlock the cart and get another two and a half minutes.

NiP made the mistake of bunching up for a hard-commit defense in the streets and a Nanoboosted ryb pounded through them. The momentum saw Misfits crush another fight just after capturing the second point, and suddenly the pressure was on NiP. They failed to deal with SoOn’s Reaper in any way and the cart continued inexorably onward. The Finns utterly crumbled mentally and let Misfits through to complete the map with a minute left.

All of the mental momentum was in favour of Misfits. mafu held on for the first push with some great Zarya play but he was picked early on in the second fight, opening the door for Misfits to take the first point and rack up distance. NiP felt the nerves and overextended again in the streets, but managed to finally dislodge Misfits from the payload after 101m.

Misfits could hold on the point or anywhere in the streets to win. hymzi poked his head out to get a pick and Zebbosai called to engage onto him, trying to minimise the chance of failure. Instead though NiP took the first point off a wipe, and it all came down to the streets.

SoOn took a Nanoboost and just went wild. He found two with his first spree, launched off a Blossom to find another two and then helped his team clean up the stragglers. Misfits had taken out the kings of the tank meta and found some exploitable weaknesses.

Misfits knocked the Finnish Ninjas out in the EU Semi-Finals and earned their spot in the Final.