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After an intense 5-game series against EHOME, Ninjas in Pyjamas were able to defeat their Chinese opponent and claim the title at the Dota PIT Minor.

Ace's Morphling wins the battle of attrition



NIP opted for a midlane Broodmother draft in Game One. Neta '33' Shapira's performance on the hero created a lot of space for his team, especially Marcus 'Ace' Hoelgaard, who was able to get consistent farm on Morphling. Through 37 minutes 33 dominated the map, resulting in a game high 8k gold lead.

In the lategame, however, Yang 'NeverEnd' Pu's WraithKing helped EHOME pull the game back to even two distinct times. But Ace's Morphling was the enduring problem for EHOME—he was able to pick off key heroes during teamfights, and after NIP regained the lead a third time, they pushed into EHOME's base and secured the win.




Ferrari_430's Medusa is invincible



In Game Two EHOME answered back by drafting Luo 'Ferrari_430' Feichi Medusa. Despite this, NIP were able to build a strong early start, accruing a near-10k gold lead at 35 minutes. The issue, however, is that they were not able to punish Medusa well enough. NeverEnd's 10-1-7 Wraith King was doing lots of work around the map and creating space for his Medusa.

When it came to actually engaging the Gorgon in the lategame, NIP simply could not. Her tankiness was too much to conquer, and NIP were forced to concede after they failed to kill her in two consecutive teamfights.




33's Doom and Fata's Puck go ham



NIP countered EHOME in Game Three with a Medusa pick of their own; however, the real stars were 33's Doom and Adrian 'Fata' Trinks's Puck. EHOME drafted a Sniper to counter the Medusa, and were doing well into the midgame. By 28 minutes EHOME had a 10k lead; however, Doom and Fata created lots of space for Ace.

The lategame was hotly contested, as both teams stayed very even as they vied for map control and farm. NeverEnd, on his third straight Wraith King game, was able to sneak Roshan, which gave EHOME a big advantage. However, when the engagement came, NIP were able to split the fight, with 33 and Fata dissecting Ferrari_430's Sniper.



After this EHOME were too broken to repel NIP as they pushed the highground and ended the game.


XinQ's Rubick steals the show



Game Four was a very one-sided affair for the Chinese. From the very beginning they had a lead, winning every laning save for the offlane, which they drew. EHOME never once let go of their advantage and built it steadily throughout the match. Ferrari_430's Razor created a strong tempo from the midlane, but it was Zhao 'XinQ' Zixing who was working overtime in the match.

He was all over the map, ganking and controlling the enemy team—he was the integral support that gave EHOME the backing to push as hard as they did. By the end NIP could not fight EHOME, and called the GG at 42 minutes; XinQ finished the game 10-2-9.




NIP gamble on Huskar in the final game



The decisive game of the Grand Finals came down to the very last fight. NIP drafted a Huskar/Drow dual-core for Fata and Ace, which meant they had pushing on their mind. But despite having a large lead for most of the game—17k at its peak at 46 minutes—EHOME never gave up. They survived NIP's map presence and kept their barracks alive while also getting NeverEnd farm on Spectre.

As they got stronger they were able to lessen the lead until it was them pushing NIP's base. However, NIP were able to take a near-miraculous defense repel them. They immediatley marched down the midlane and broke EHOME's highground. Instead of playing it safe, they continued to push after killing XinQ's Rubick, knowing he was an important part of their defense.

EHOME was forced into one last fight, but without their playmaker they could not withstand NIP, who went straight for the ancient, securing the win, the series, and the tournament.




The Ninjas are going to Paris.



Photo Credit - OGA Dota PIT Twitter

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