NiP beats Na’Vi in 93-minute game with 10 Divine Rapiers purchased

After an hour and a half, Ninjas in Pyjamas managed to put away Natus Vincere in a group stage showdown in ESL One Los Angeles‘ European and CIS league.

Na’Vi kicked off the series with a win thanks to Idan “MagicaL” Vardanian’s dominating performance as Queen of Pain. That victory wound up being a hollow one, as the second game lasted for 93 minutes, the longest game of the tournament. Vladislav “Crystallize” Krystanek also broke this season’s record for most last hits, reaching 1,464 creep kills.

The game dragged for so long that a total of 10 Divine Rapiers were purchased. Na’Vi bought seven of the 10 Divine Rapiers, with the team having so much excess gold that three of them were kept in players’ stashes, just in case.

Meanwhile, NiP’s Jason Connor “TANNER” Weedon bought three Divine Rapiers for his hero, Templar Assassin. He also kept one in his stash, just to maintain the overwhelming DPS that cores in the game were achieving.

The net worth advantage constantly favored NiP and it peaked at over 50,000 gold. However, that was not enough to finish the game.

Divine Rapiers define ESL One Los Angeles showdown between NiP, Na’Vi

Crystallize bought his Medusa the first Divine Rapier at the 32-minute mark. His team tried to turn the tables but NiP was prepared for the onslaught. Unfortunately, Na‘Vi couldn’t break its opponent’s defenses. Despite the game going to its favor, NiP struggled to damage Na’Vi’s base as well. The team had strong defenses to go along with Crystallize’s heavily farmed Medusa.

Both teams were dragging the game out and getting more items, picking up the strongest neutral items and loading up their cores with Divine Rapiers.

An hour into the game, NiP finally claimed its first set of barracks. Pavel “9pasha” Khvastunov and Semion “CemaTheSlayeR” Krivulya missed the right defensive timing and it translated to a complete disaster. NiP had to back off after its opponents committed several buybacks.

Na’Vi attempted to take the team fights outside its base, with mixed results. The team was left to defend its last barracks after a few engagements. NiP struggled to finish the game due to Crystallize’s Medusa, which was hitting 1,300 damage per attack.

Na‘Vi knew that its chances of victory were getting slimmer as each minute passed by. After more than 90 minutes, the team tried to bait an engagement in the middle lane. However, NiP had a different strategy in mind. With Evgeniy “Blizzy” Ree’s Reality Rift, NiP teleported into the base of Na‘Vi and focused on taking the ancient. Na‘Vi didn’t even have a chance to respond as NiP blew up the objective within a few seconds, even with backdoor protection.

In the deciding game, NiP’s momentum continued. The team claimed the victory in a less-complicated, quicker game than the previous match.

Na’Vi and NiP are both fighting to stay alive in the tournament. They have a 2-3 record in the group stage, with two more chances to advance to the playoffs.