Ninjas in Pyjamas just produced their cleanest weekend of 2026 so far. The Scandinavian organisation secured their place in the Stake Ranked Episode 2 upper-bracket final with a dominant 2-0 over Sharks — 13-7 on Ancient, 13-5 on Nuke — while 3DMAX and HEROIC were eliminated from the event entirely on a day that scrambled the Barcelona bracket.
NiP’s resurgence is concrete
The Sharks 2-0 was the second consecutive clean performance after the opening-round win over HEROIC. For a roster that has spent most of the last year cycling lineups and struggling against elite opposition, the Stake Ranked run is the clearest sign yet that the experienced-plus-young-talent mix has started to gel.
3DMAX and HEROIC out
Both teams’ tournament runs ended early — 3DMAX bowed out after the magic upset in the opening round and a subsequent lower-bracket exit; HEROIC followed after their loss to NiP escalated into a full elimination trajectory. For HEROIC the result is particularly damaging given the organisational pressure heading into the IEM Cologne Major cycle.
The bracket implications
NiP are now one series away from the grand final. With magic having already eliminated FaZe in the upper-bracket semi and 3DMAX out of the bracket entirely, Stake Ranked Episode 2 has produced one of the more upset-driven brackets of the year — and NiP’s path to the trophy is materially more open than the seeding predicted.
