paiN stun FURIA in BLAST Premier Spring Showdown finals

paiN completed their hard-fought journey through the valley of North America’s giants by winning the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown finals over FURIA yesterday. Before getting to FURIA, they had to fight their way through the hardest schedule inside the event, going toe-to-toe with Liquid and MIBR before besting Brazil’s top team in the finals and earning an invite to the BLAST Premier Spring Final.

Things were competitive between the two throughout the entirety of paiN’s pick of Vertigo. Both teams made their presence felt on the offensive, both earning nine rounds on the T side. paiN was close to putting away FURIA in regulation after a five-round win streak on defense, but FURIA came alive with their backs against the wall with four rounds back to take it to OT. The two would need a second overtime to separate them, with paiN grinding their opposition out to earn the hard-fought first-map victory. With FURIA reeling after a marathon of a match, spectators were curious how they would respond on their pick of Inferno.

Things immediately went south for FURIA on Inferno, as it became evident right away that the momentum had gotten away from them. paiN shut down everything their opponent threw at them on the T side, going up 11-0 to start the CT side first half. FURIA would sneak in two rounds before the half, giving them some semblance of hope with a 2-13 deficit heading into the half switch. Things got rolling for FURIA to start their CT side, ripping off six rounds in their favor to lessen the gap to 8-13. paiN would have no more of FURIA’s comeback efforts, responding with three-round wins of their own to secure sixteen and the 2-0 victory, as well as first place in the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown.

paiN's star rifler Rodrigo "biguzera" Bittencourt was a beast unleashed for his team in this event. His lowest rated map was a 1.15 across the seven games played, as he finished the event with a 1.47 K/D ratio, 91.3 ADR, and an event-best 1.42 rating.

After narrowly missing the PGL Antwerp Major, securing an invite to the BLAST Premier Spring Final is the next best thing for paiN. After trouncing America’s titans, paiN will look to do the same to some of the world’s best inside of the Spring Final in Lisbon, Portugal, beginning June 15th.

The BLAST Premier Spring Showdown NA official standings:

1. paiN (PKL, biguzera, hardzao, NEKIZ, nython, Coach: rikz) - BLAST Premier Spring Final
2. FURIA (yuurih, arT, KSCERATO, drop, saffee, Coach: guerri) - $12,500
3-4. MIBR (chelo, exit, WOOD7, Tuurtle, JOTA, Coach: BIT) - $7,500
3-4. GODSENT (TACO, latto, b4rtiN, dumau, HEN1, Coach: Chucky) - $7,500
5-8. Liquid (EliGE, NAF, oSee, shox, nitr0, Coach: adreN) - $5,000
5-8. Complexity (JT, FaNg, floppy, Grim, junior, Coach: T.c) - $5,000
5-8. ATK (Fadey, MisteM, motm, b0denmaster, Swisher, Coach: sprayxd) - $5,000
5-8. Evil Geniuses (Brehze, CeRq, Stewie2k, autimatic, RUSH, Coach: maLeK) - $5,000