The North American team's run in BLAST Premier Fall Series has reached an early conclusion as Ninjas in Pyjamas handed them a 2-0 defeat (16-8 Overpass, 19-15 Inferno).

Ninjas in Pyjamas's victory over Evil Geniuses in two maps earns the Swedish side a rematch against Natus Vincere on Wednesday, while Evil Geniuses are out of the group stage, and will have to fight for a place in the BLAST Premier Fall Finals in the Showdown event.

The Peter "⁠stanislaw⁠" Jarguz-led team ended their first event since arriving on an European bootcamp with two defeats, losing to OG 2-1 before being eliminated by Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser and co. Following the match, Ninjas in Pyjamas's in-game leader spoke about facing Natus Vincere for a spot in the next phase of the tournament, stating that "if we just play like we can play, I think we'll have it".

Evil Geniuses edged out the first two rounds on Overpass to start Ninjas in Pyjamas's map pick with an advantage, but the Swedes struck back with five in a row to claim the lead - which they didn't drop for the rest of the game. The North American side found their footing after being 5-2 down thanks to Vincent "⁠Brehze⁠" Cayonte's multikills, but Ninjas in Pyjamas's 3v5 turnaround on A proved crucial in denying Evil Geniuses's attempt to equalize the score.

The Ninjas had a 10-5 lead going into the second half, and despite losing the first three rounds on the defense, looked comfortable on their way to the victory, with their unbreakable site holds and a good team-wide performance earning them a 16-8 win.

Things were all tied at 2-2 early on into Inferno, but Evil Geniuses' map pick didn't end up working well for them on the Terrorist side. After Ninjas in Pyjamas mustered a mixed-buy win in round 5, the Swedes went on a nine-round winning streak, finishing their CT side 11-4 up as Tim "⁠nawwk⁠" Jonasson recorded just two deaths.

Ninjas in Pyjamas were looking to bring the map to a quick conclusion, but Ethan "⁠Ethan⁠" Arnold's triple with a Deagle earned Evil Geniuses a force-buy win and kicked off their comeback. Ninjas in Pyjamas only managed sporadic rounds, putting their economy in a poor place, with stanislaw's 4K hold of A equalizing things at 14-14, leading Inferno into overtime.

In the added rounds, Ninjas in Pyjamas finally cracked the code and found success attacking Tarik "⁠tarik⁠" Celik and Ethan on B, claiming the map after a flawless set of overtime to make it 19-15.

Ninjas in Pyjamas	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Fredrik 'REZ' SternerREZ	43 - 34	+9	77.9	1.28
Nicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez ZamoraPlopski	44 - 33	+11	81.0	1.23
Simon 'twist' Eliassontwist	38 - 34	+4	77.2	1.18
Tim 'nawwk' Jonassonnawwk	34 - 27	+7	54.8	1.05
Hampus 'hampus' Poserhampus	40 - 41	-1	81.3	1.03

Evil Geniuses	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Ethan 'Ethan' ArnoldEthan	35 - 38	-3	70.2	1.04
Tsvetelin 'CeRq' DimitrovCeRq	44 - 40	+4	71.8	1.03
Peter 'stanislaw' Jarguzstanislaw	34 - 35	-1	64.6	0.97
Vincent 'Brehze' CayonteBrehze	26 - 42	-16	62.2	0.72
Tarik 'tarik' Celiktarik	28 - 44	-16	59.8	0.70