NiP, BIG open strong at cs_summit 6 Europe

NiP swept x6tence 2-0 in Group C, and BIG handled FaZe Clan by the same margin in Group D. In Thursday's other matches, Heroic beat ENCE in Group C, and OG fought past Team Heretics in Group D, with both matches decided by a 2-1 margin.The losing teams will meet in Friday's elimination matches, with x6tence battling ENCE, and FaZe facing Heretics.

Ninjas in Pyjamas and BIG each swept their openers on Thursday, as Groups C and D kicked off action at the cs_summit 6 Online: Europe event. NiP swept x6tence 2-0 in Group C, and BIG handled FaZe Clan by the same margin in Group D.

In Thursday's other matches, Heroic beat ENCE in Group C, and OG fought past Team Heretics in Group D, with both matches decided by a 2-1 margin. The losing teams will meet in Friday's elimination matches, with x6tence battling ENCE, and FaZe facing Heretics. Thursday's winners will meet Saturday with playoff spots going to the victors, as NiP battle Heroic, and BIG and OG face off.

Sixteen European teams are competing in four groups in the $125,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event. The top two teams from each group advance to the double-elimination playoff bracket. All matches are best-of-three except the best-of-five grand final scheduled for July 5. The winner will receive $34,000 and 2,000 Regional Major Rankings points.

NiP coasted by x6tence with victories of 16-4 on Train and 16-6 on Vertigo. All five players on the all-Swedish roster finished with a positive kill-death differential, led by Frederik "REZ" Sterner at plus-15. In Group C's first match, Heroic sandwiched victories of 16-8 on Nuke and 16-5 on Mirage around a 16-8 defeat on Train. Martin "stavn" Lund was dominant for the Danish squad, racking up 63 kills (most of any player by 10) and a plus-29 differential (best of any player by 16).

BIG slipped by FaZe with wins of 16-10 on Mirage and 16-12 on Nuke, using a streak of nine straight rounds won to take control on the second map. Florian "syrsoN" Rische of Germany paced BIG with a plus-15 differential. In the day's final match, OG claimed Inferno 16-3, dropped Nuke 16-11 to Heretics and then dominated Mirage 16-3 to close it out. Issa "ISSAA" Murad of Jordan finished plus-22, and Mateusz "mantuu" Wilczewski of the United Kingdom was just behind at plus-20.

In addition to x6tence vs. ENCE and FaZe vs. Heretics, Friday will feature elimination matches between Fnatic and mousesports (Group A) and FATE Esports and Movistar Riders (Group B). cs_summit 6: Online Europe prize pool (with money and Regional Major Rankings points):

1. $34,000, 2,000 2. $22,000, 1,875

3. $17,000, 1,750 4. $13,000, 1,625

5. $10,000, 1,500 6. $7,500, 1,375

7. $5,500, 1,250 8. $4,000, 1,125

9. $3,000, 1,000 10. $2,200, 875

11. $1,600, 750 12. $1,200, 625

13-16, $1,000, 312.5