NiP stun Astralis as EPL Season 11 opening day reaches end

The first day of ESL Pro League Season 11 came to a close with a stunning upset as Ninjas in Pyjamas made light work of world No.2 Astralis.

It has been a rough few months for Astralis. The Danish team, who had lost over 150 points in the world rankings in Monday's weekly update, began their Pro League campaign on the wrong foot as they were humbled by Ninjas in Pyjamas in a quick two-map series.

The Ninjas commenced their impressive campaign on Vertigo, where a convincing start on the T side saw the Swedes pick up a whopping 12 rounds. Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander's pistol round triple kill gave Astralis a way back into the game, but rifles in the hands of Ninjas in Pyjamas meant a swift 16-6 conclusion to map one, with Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner shining with an impressive 1.74 rating.

NiP were too hot for Astralis to handle

After switching to their map pick, Overpass, Astralis managed to claw their initial T-side rounds but once more dropped the ball when faced against rifles. After a three-round string, the former No.1 squad managed to add only one more round to their tally, concluding their offensive half with a seven-round deficit.

Another pistol round seemed like a promising start for the Danes; however, they were once more overpowered by Ninjas in Pyjamas when push came to shove. A back and forth played against Astralis' deficit, as the Danes were defeated, once again without posting double-digits.

ESL Pro League Season 11 EuropeBest of 3 AstralisMatchpage 0 2 16th March 2020 Ninjas in Pyjamas 6Vertigo 16 8Overpass 16

Astralis	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethXyp9x	29 - 33	-4	75.0	0.98
Emil 'Magisk' ReifMagisk	33 - 33	0	70.3	0.98
Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossandergla1ve	25 - 34	-9	58.4	0.80
Nicolai 'device' Reedtzdevice	23 - 36	-13	62.6	0.70
Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussendupreeh	19 - 39	-20	64.5	0.62

Ninjas in Pyjamas	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Fredrik 'REZ' SternerREZ	45 - 27	+18	105.5	1.57
Nicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez ZamoraPlopski	44 - 24	+20	92.1	1.49
Simon 'twist' Eliassontwist	29 - 24	+5	72.4	1.22
Jonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonLekr0	28 - 26	+2	74.9	1.15
Tim 'nawwk' Jonassonnawwk	29 - 28	+1	65.0	1.02

The Nordic clash concluded an eventful first day of ESL Pro League, which had begun with a 2-0 thrashing of ENCE by Spirit. The Russian team, who were invited at the last minute to replace BOOM, cruised past the struggling Finnish players 16-2 on Inferno before picking up a close victory in a 30-round Train game.

Meanwhile, Vitality were made to work hard to beat GODSENT in their first match with Kévin "⁠misutaaa⁠" Rabier, who impressed with a 1.23 rating, the second-highest in the team. Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire's troops recovered from a 7-12 deficit to post a 16-14 win on Vertigo before easing past their opponents on Nuke, where Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut dominated the map with a 1.74 rating and a 114 ADR.

Below you can find the group standings after the first day:

Group A TEAM M P Ninjas in Pyjamas 1 3 Spirit 1 3 Vitality 1 3 GODSENT 1 0 ENCE 1 0 Astralis 1 0 Kévin 'misutaaa' Rabier Age: 17 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 32 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.70 ENCE #22 Aleksi 'allu' JalliJani 'Aerial' JussilaMiikka 'suNny' KemppiSami 'xseveN' LaasanenJere 'sergej' Salo Spirit #27 Leonid 'chopper' VishnyakovNikolay 'mir' BityukovViktor 'sdy' OrudzhevArtem 'iDISBALANCE' EgorovBoris 'magixx' Vorobiev Nikolay 'Certus' Poluyanov Vitality #10 Richard 'shox' PapillonCédric 'RpK' GuipouyDan 'apEX' MadesclaireMathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautKévin 'misutaaa' Rabier Rémy 'XTQZZZ' Quoniam Astralis #2 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif Spirit #27 Leonid 'chopper' VishnyakovNikolay 'mir' BityukovViktor 'sdy' OrudzhevArtem 'iDISBALANCE' EgorovBoris 'magixx' Vorobiev GODSENT #16 Mikail 'Maikelele' BillJesse 'zehN' LinjalaMartin 'STYKO' StykKevin 'kRYSTAL' AmendPavle 'Maden' Bošković Jonatan 'Devilwalk' Lundberg Ninjas in Pyjamas #12 Simon 'twist' EliassonJonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonFredrik 'REZ' SternerTim 'nawwk' JonassonNicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez Zamora Vitality #10 Richard 'shox' PapillonCédric 'RpK' GuipouyDan 'apEX' MadesclaireMathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautKévin 'misutaaa' Rabier GODSENT #16 Mikail 'Maikelele' BillJesse 'zehN' LinjalaMartin 'STYKO' StykKevin 'kRYSTAL' AmendPavle 'Maden' Bošković Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander Age: 24 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 1284 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.65 ENCE #22 Aleksi 'allu' JalliJani 'Aerial' JussilaMiikka 'suNny' KemppiSami 'xseveN' LaasanenJere 'sergej' Salo Slaava 'Twista' Räsänen Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut Age: 19 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.30 Maps played: 573 KPR: 0.87 DPR: 0.62 Astralis #2 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif Danny 'zonic' Sørensen Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire Age: 27 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 1560 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.70 BOOM #42 Ricardo 'boltz' PrassJoão 'felps' VasconcellosGustavo 'yel' KnittelMarcelo 'chelo' CespedesBruno 'shz' Martinelli Fredrik 'REZ' Sterner Age: 22 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 923 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.66 Ninjas in Pyjamas #12 Simon 'twist' EliassonJonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonFredrik 'REZ' SternerTim 'nawwk' JonassonNicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez Zamora Björn 'THREAT' Pers