On November 17, the last match of the group phase of the IEM Beijing tournament took place – Haidian, as a result of which the composition of the teams that reached the playoffs was finally determined. In this match, BIG won at Ninjas in Pajamas with a score of 2:1, securing access to the next stage of the tournament.
At first it seemed that both teams had approximately equal chances of winning, since on the first map (Vertigo) the leader was determined only as a result of overtime. However, on the next two maps (Nuke and Mirage), the opponents showed themselves more clearly. Although Ninjas in Pajamas performed well on Vertigo and Nuke, they were unable to convert this advantage into a victory. One of these two cards remained with NiP, the other – for BIG, and as a result the German team won the right to participate in the playoffs. On Mirage, they managed to achieve a 13-round advantage playing as an attacker, and as a result, the map ended with a score of 16: 6.
In the next match, BIG will face Complexity. The draw also determined the remaining pairs of participants: in particular, Natus Vincere will once again fight with Astralis, Heroic will play against Vitality, and FaZe will meet with G2.
