Yesterday the playoffs for the Overwatch Pit Championship started. The European teams did not disappoint us in terms of entertainment value, as they provided plenty of close maps and even an upset.

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Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. Team Singularity Ninjas – NiP wins, 2-0

The first game of the night had a very nice incentive, since it was the Battle of the Ninjas and the Battle of the North. But the games did unfortunately not turn into a Genji fiesta on a snow-filled mountainside. NiP took two pretty quick wins on Route 66 and Lijang Tower. Singularity had a chance to make the matchup exciting as they took the third round of Lijang to 99%. But NiP didn’t want any of that, took the point back and won in overtime.

(Battle of the Ninjas, Battle of the soldiers.)

Vivi’s Adventure vs. Movistar Riders – Movistar Riders wins, 2-1

On paper this game probably didn’t look very interesting. But the people that have been following the tournament know that Vivi’s has been playing well, despite being one of the major underdogs this event. Yesterday, Vivi’s gave Movistar a fair fight, even though they lost in the end. They managed to take the first map in Nepal, after coming back from losing the first two rounds to Movistar Riders. This was a really close set of games, again decided by solid Soldier play. On the next map of King’s Row however, MRDS showed that they are in fact the stronger team. The third and final map was another close affair, but Movistar Riders took that map 3-1 winning the matchup and knocking down Vivi’s to the Losers Bracket.

(Finnsi of Movistar Riders cleaning up Vivi’s, stopping them at 99%.)

Movistar Riders vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas – Movistar Riders wins, 2-0

Well, what happened here you might ask? To be fair, the 2-0 score doesn’t really reflect how the games played out. This entire series was a really close set of games, where NiP, even though they played well, did not play well ENOUGH. First up was Hanamura, where Movistar Riders won 4-3 after showing how strong their dive comp can be. NiP is known for their incredible tank strategies, but Movistar seemed to always be one step ahead of the Finns. The second game was played on Nepal, where NiP tried a few different things. For example, Zappis showed that a Viking can play a few different heroes, when he hopped onto both Mei and Orisa during the Nepal game. Unfortunately, while different is fun, it’s not always the best. And in the end Movistar Riders deserved their win, knocking NiP down to their last chance in the Losers Bracket.

(Really good Orisa play from Zappis and NiP.)

The second half of the European playoffs (featuring for example Dignitas and Misfits) will be played tonight, at twitch.tv/overwatchpit starting at 11 AM PDT/18:00 CEST.

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