Black Dragons vs Ninjas in Pyjamas preview: BD hope to beat an NiP already out of Major contention

Friday saw the first set of five matches in Brazil’s final weekend. Three went to overtime, while a fourth saw all 12 rounds of regulation time.

Keep on reading to know what to expect from tonight’s games.

Three overtimes, NiP out of SI 2023 Top 16 for good

FURIA Esports and Black Dragons met in the first game of the day, with the black panthers winning in maximum overtime. With Black Dragons taking one point from the game, they are once more one step closer from qualifying to the Copa Elite Six. But FURIA were victors as they kept their Major hopes alive, hoping to eventually leapfrog BD, as Diogo “Fntzy” Lima went big with 16 kills.

Later on, Team Liquid beat MIBR by an 8-6 margin after two incredible performances from Luccas “Paluh” Molina and André “NESKWGA” Oliveira. Paluh ended up with the best SiegeGG Rating in the game at a 1.45, as he added two more entry kills to his Stage 3 record – incredibly, he is still yet to concede an opening death and holds a balance of 11-0 (+11).

FaZe Clan then laboured to beat TropiCaos and were forced to go to maximum overtime, even though Pedro “PpWs” Sabino and Diego “ZaaK” de Albuquerque had poor performances. Joao “DRUNKKZZ” Giordani, Raul “kondz” Romao, Lucca “yektz” Tosta combined tally of 43 kills saved the team a point, with DRUNKKZZ going berserk on round 12 as he completed a 1v3 post plant clutch to force overtime.

To conclude the day, w7m esports beat 00 Nation 7-2 in a strong recovery of a slow start to the stage. Meanwhile, Team oNe’s 7-5 victory over Ninjas in Pyjamas means the ninjas will have to compete in LATAM’s SI Regional Qualifier to qualify for the Six Invitational 2023.

Saturday:

• FaZe Clan vs MIBR
• FURIA Esports vs TropiCaos
• w7m esports vs Team oNe
• Black Dragons vs Ninjas in Pyjamas
• Team Liquid vs 00 Nation

Brazil’s penultimate play day of the season will begin with a fierce clash between FaZe Clan and MIBR, two sides who are still in the fight to qualify for this stage’s Copa Elite Six. While MIBR have very low chances to make it to the Six Invitational 2023 through the

Global Standings even if they win, FaZe desperately need the win to qualify for the Copa Elite Six and SI 2023. With only 525 SI Points right now and being 13th in the Global Standings, attendance at the Major is vital to their hopes of directly qualifying to the world championship.

FURIA Esports will clash with TropiCaos, who forced FaZe yesterday to maximum overtime, while w7m esports and Team oNe will face off in the following match. Team Liquid will then seek Copa Elite Six qualification against 00 Nation in the final match of the day.

However, the match of the day will be the game between Black Dragons and Ninjas in Pyjamas, two organizations with a lot of history in the scene.

Head-to-head

Black Dragons and Ninjas in Pyjamas have faced off five time since the 2021 season began, once for every stage played:

• BR6 2021 Stage 1: 7-3 to BD on Coastline
• BR6 2021 Stage 2: 8-6 to BD on Villa
• BR6 2021 Stage 3: 7-5 to NiP on Oregon
• BR6 2022 Stage 1: 7-2 to BD on Clubhouse
• BR6 2022 Stage 2: 7-2 to NiP on Chalet

Interestingly, no map hasn’t been played twice in the last two years between them. 

While Black Dragons’ record since Nov. 2020 is a 3-2 against Ninjas in Pyjamas, the Ninjas had a 14-game unbeaten streak against the Dragons between Jan. 2019 and Oct. 2020.

Both matches played this season ended with 7-2 scorelines, as Black Dragons won in Stage 1, while Ninjas in Pyjamas won in Stage 2.

Can Black Dragons finally return to the international stage?

Black Dragons’ only international appearance in Siege came at the Six Invitational 2018, where they made it as far as the quarter-finals. Four months later, the roster picked up by Ninjas in Pyjamas, with whom they became world champions in 2021. 

Almost five years later, Black Dragons have another shot at making it to an international competition. Heading to the two final playdays with 13 points, Black Dragons could make the first step to qualify for the Jönköping Major today by obtaining a Copa Elite Six spot.

Although the current position of the team may lead people to think the work is half done, Black Dragons’ Stage 2 disaster is the perfect example to demonstrate why they can’t count their chickens before they are hatched. Last stage, despite heading to the final two playdays in second place with 13 points, the roster missed out on the Berlin Major.

Black Dragons must prove they have learnt from the mistakes of the past, otherwise the team will surely have a bitter end to the weekend – as the roster is playing to qualify not just for the Jönköping Major but also for the BR6 Finals.

After yesterday’s result against Team oNe, Ninjas in Pyjamas can no longer qualify for the Jönköping Major – which also means the team has no chance of finishing among the best sixteen teams at the Global Standings. 

Plain and simple, the roster has the chance to bring Black Dragons back to the international scene, as a BD victory would likely send the dragons to the Copa Elite Six.

Major brotherhood in Jönköping still a reality

Black Dragons’ result on Friday was a maximum overtime defeat to FURIA Esports, as Vinicius “Patoxy” Lima Sens’ play on the final round didn’t sort the desired effect for the dragons. Despite the loss, Black Dragons are currently in fourth, while FURIA Esports sit in sixth. 

With both teams still having chances to qualify for Copa do Brasil, both of the Ferreira siblings still can make it to the Jönköping Major. Thiago “handy” Ferreira is FURIA’s best player as he holds the third-best rating in the competition, while Felipe “nade” Ferreira has the seventh-best rating. Depending on today’s results, we could see the first set of siblings competing at a Siege Major.