Ninjas in Pyjamas vs 3DMAX – IEM Cologne 2025 Stage 1 Upper Bracket

Ninjas in Pyjamas closed out a clean 2–0 win over 3DMAX in the upper bracket quarter-final of IEM Cologne 2025 Stage 1. With this result, the Swedish-Danish mix moves into Stage 2 of the tournament. 3DMAX drop to the lower bracket where they’ll face TYLOO in a do-or-die match. Polish rifler xKacpersky was the MVP of the series, posting a 1.41 rating and 101.6 ADR across two maps.

Map 1 – Nuke (13:8 NiP)

NiP picked Nuke and built a solid 7:5 lead by halftime on the T side. Their CT half proved even stronger as they closed the map with an 8:1 run. r1nkle opened the scoreboard with a 4K USP-S hold on A site, while xKacpersky secured a late-round quad-kill on B to shut down a comeback. On the 3DMAX side, bodyy kept his team in contention with 20 kills and 111 ADR, but the defense crumbled under NiP’s spacing.

Map 2 – Dust2 (13:7 NiP)

3DMAX selected Dust2 and led 7:5 at halftime, but fell apart on the defense as NiP stormed through the second half 8:0. sjuush closed out the map with a clutch 1v2 post-plant to seal the series. Once again, xKacpersky and sjuush led the scoreboard with impactful multi-kills and solid positioning. 3DMAX struggled to hold A long and mid, with Graviti ending the series at 0.62 rating.

Ninjas in Pyjamas advance to Stage 2 alongside FaZe and GamerLegion. 3DMAX drop to the lower bracket and will face TYLOO next. Other lower bracket matches include Virtus.pro vs Heroic and Liquid vs FlyQuest, all set for July 25.

IEM Cologne 2025 is held in Cologne, Germany, from July 23 to August 3. Stage 1 runs until July 25 with 16 teams in a double-elimination bracket competing for $28,000. Stage 2 begins July 26 with eight qualified teams. The total prize pool is $1,000,000, with $400,000 awarded to the champions, $180,000 for second place, and $80,000 for third.