Young Ninjas win WePlay Academy League Season 6

Erik "⁠ztr⁠" Gustafsson's troops claimed revenge over Spirit Academy to take home the title.

Young Ninjas have won WePlay Academy League Season 6, beating Spirit Academy 2-1 (7-16 Dust2, 16-11 Vertigo, 16-8 Nuke) in the grand final to clinch the title and recover from being knocked down to the consolidation final on Saturday.

The Swedes put a halt to Spirit Academy's run through the event, in which they had topped Group B and gone through the playoff bracket unscathed, even defeating Young Ninjas in the upper bracket final in 2-0 fashion.

The Young Ninjas take home their first-ever WePlay Academy League title

The same result didn't occur in the title decider, however, with Young Ninjas opting for an entirely different map pool in their rematch against the Ukraine-Russia combine. Rather than take the battle to Mirage and Overpass, ztr and company chose to ban the former and left Dust2 in the pool, the map they ultimately lost to Spirit Academy at the onset of the series.

Young Ninjas had almost no chance to fight on the map and were simply outclassed by a strong offensive effort from Spirit Academy, who put up nine flawless rounds to kick things off before later claiming victory, 16-7.

The Ninjas were put up against the ropes on Vertigo, an early 3-1 lead on the T side falling away rapidly as Spirit Academy won eight of the following nine rounds. The Swedish side rallied back right at the end of the half, winning two last rounds and carrying momentum into their own defensive effort, which proved to be almost impenetrable as they won nine rounds off the break before clinching the win shortly afterward.

From there, Young Ninjas took control of the series, making up for a 1-4 start on Nuke by running away with the lead on the CT-side, pulling ahead by three rounds at the break. Momentum was again maintained after the halftime switch, six rounds on the T side immediately putting the Swedish team on match point before they again took home the win, 16-8, to secure victory in the series.

WePlay Academy League Season 6Best of 3 Spirit AcademyMatchpage 1 2 20th November 2022 Young Ninjas 16Dust2 7 11Vertigo 16 8Nuke 16

Spirit Academy	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Artem 'ArtFr0st' KharitonovArtFr0st	58 - 44	+14	82.9	1.25
Dmitry 'S0tF1k' ForostyankoS0tF1k	19 - 17	+2	46.2	1.16
Oleg 'baz' Kulynychbaz	48 - 48	0	71.6	1.13
Danil 'donk' Kryshkovetsdonk	54 - 60	-6	75.1	1.06
Mykhailo 'OWNER' LymarOWNER	29 - 41	-12	50.2	0.98
Myroslav 'zont1x' Plakhotiazont1x	45 - 53	-8	57.8	0.85

Young Ninjas	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Sean 'eraa' Knutssoneraa	60 - 51	+9	85.8	1.19
Max 'maxster' Janssonmaxster	54 - 46	+8	72.8	1.12
Linus 'nilo' Bergmannilo	55 - 50	+5	78.3	1.07
Adam 'adamb' Ångströmadamb	42 - 57	-15	74.1	1.01
Erik 'ztr' Gustafssonztr	50 - 50	0	68.8	0.99

WePlay Academy League Season 6 final standings:

1. Young Ninjas - $45,000
2. Spirit Academy - $20,000
3. NAVI Junior - $15,000
4. MOUZ NXT - $8,000
5-6. OG Academy - $4,000
5.6 PROSPECTS - $4,000
7-8. Astralis Talent - $1,500
7-8. fnatic Rising - $1,500
9-10. FURIA Academy - $500
9-10. BIG Academy - $500
11-13. Flames Ascent
11-13. Apeks Rebels
11-13. ENCE Academy
14. MIBR Academy

Spirit Academy #106 Mykhailo 'OWNER' LymarMyroslav 'zont1x' PlakhotiaDanil 'donk' KryshkovetsArtem 'ArtFr0st' KharitonovOleg 'baz' Kulynych fnatic Rising #62 Adam 'WolfY' AnderssonPeppe 'Peppzor' BorakMikkel 'Maze' SparvathSebastian 'volt' MaloșMatias 'Banjo' Kivistö OG Academy #98 Blagoi 'oxygeN' DimitrovArbnor 'Dementor' PacolliAlexandru 's0und' ȘtefanMax 'Marix' KugenerSlaven 'AwaykeN' Lyubenov NAVI Junior #110 Dmytro 'dem0n' MyroshnychenkoAdam 'froz1k' NahornyiMark 'UNBR0KEN' VarakutaAndrii 'npl' KukharskyiYuriy 'rendY' Halyshyn Erik 'ztr' Gustafsson Age: 19 Team: Young Ninjas Rating 1.0: 0.94 Maps played: 476 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.69 Astralis Talent #74 Kristoffer 'Kristou' AamandPatrick 'Patti' LarsenAlexander 'Altekz' GivskovAlexander 'br0' BroNicklas 'jarko' Rasmussen MIBR Academy #210 Cauã 'card' CardosoLucas 'lub' BaracatRawan 'beg0d' TavaresFelipe 'insani' YujiHenzo 'spinnie' Macri MOUZ NXT #89 Marcus 'Q-Q' Krolak-HenriksenRoberts 'shield' TipsisJimi 'Jimpphat' SaloBram 'Nexius' CampanaChristoffer 'Chr1zN' Storgaard Young Ninjas #71 Erik 'ztr' GustafssonSean 'eraa' KnutssonLinus 'nilo' BergmanAdam 'adamb' ÅngströmMax 'maxster' Jansson Apeks Rebels #112 Ådne 'sense' FredriksenViktor 'vhw' WadmanTobias 'berzerk' BertelsenPatrik 'Brave' KarlsenSindre 'Tapewaare' Ellefsen FURIA Academy #148 Leonardo 'zmb' ToledoKaue 'kauez' KaschukLucas 'decenty' BacelarBruno 'Bruninho' RodriguesJoão 'koala' Pfeffer Flames Ascent #153 Emil 'fez' KristensenSigurd 'buNNy' FritzbøgerAllan 'Speedy' SørensenAndreas 'Hansi' Schougaard HansenDavid 'Inspire' Rasmussen PROSPECTS #55 Alexander 'AlekS' AnderssonGustav 'FRANSSON' FranssonOlle 'spooke' GrundströmJohan 'hype' EngblomJonatan 'bobeksde' Persson ENCE Academy #86 Veeti 'S1rva' SirvaHenri 'HENU' YlilehtoYoussef 'juissi' AdamVille 'myltsi' VilkmanPaavo 'podi' Heiskanen BIG Academy #116 Tizian 'tiziaN' FeldbuschDavid 'prosus' HesseTom 'skyye' HagedornNico 'Aqua' KembitzkyMarcel 'hyped' Köhn