In a day that legendary Counter-Strike orgs have fallen, NIP became the final team to be eliminated in the Legends Stage of the BLAST.tv Paris Major.
A heartbreaking loss for the international team, a despondent Aleksib said after the game that he was “in shock.”
With Apeks completing what will surely become an iconic comeback in the second map of Ancient, it’s hard to not see why Aleksib could hardly summon words as we spoke to him.
NIP lead at halftime in the first map, their own pick of Vertigo. A 9-6 T side performance, NIP firmly looked in the driving seat.
"Gameplan wise, atmosphere wise, I don't think too many things went wrong." the Finnish IGL told BLAST.tv.
It wasn’t enough, however, as NIP would concede a 9-6 half and Apeks would take Vertigo in second half.
For the side that arguably possesses more experience, it was their most inexperienced player that stepped up across the two maps, with Aleksib saying he is “super proud” of the young marksman's performances across the event.
However, headtr1ck’s performances were not enough to see the team through to the playoffs. After all, Counter-Strike is a team game, and Aleksib summed up the issues his teams faced well.
“When we knew that we were having a round that can decide the game, or that can get them on an eco that can give us match point on both maps, we stressed. We showed inexperience, even though we have experience.”
He stumbles, it’s not sure whether he’s trying to hold back emotions, or if he’s trying to find words that are lost in the shock of the events that just panned out.
“We did things we thought were easy. We did things very one-dimensionally.”
At 14-3 after a dominant CT half and a T sided pistol win on Ancient, NIP looked sure to send the series to three maps. A map that has been strong for Apeks, it was jkaem who stepped up to match the firepower of NIP on Apeks CT side.
“When we actually did a good round, we end up not locking down the afterplants, which is something we should be capable of doing in these crunch moments... and that's just sad.” Aleksib said.
It all came down to a 1v2 afterplant for nawwk on the B bombsite, and the former NIP AWPer delivered to send his former team home in an act he called ‘destiny’.
Despite this loss, Aleksib states he is “proud” of the team and the way they feel “enabled.”
With most of their stars still being young, and with CS2 on the horizon, the best may be yet to come, even for a team with as fabled a history as NIP.
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