Spirit win Flow FiReLEAGUE
The eight-team single-elimination tournament has finally come to a close with an exceptional grand final between the last South American team, paiN, and the only non-South American participant, Spirit. Spirit initially joined the tournament as a last-minute replacement for oNe, who could unfortunately not attend the tournament. So what should have been a fully South American tournament quickly became a continental battle between the American teams and the lone outsider, higher ranked than any of the South American teams.
paiN fought through their side in close three-map affairs, almost losing to Masonic and then narrowly defeating the only Brazilian team ranked higher than them, Imperial. With those two victories, paiN qualified for the grand finals. Spirit, on the other hand, had an easier journey, winning both of their previous matches 2-0, and in dominant fashion too. They first took down WINDIGO 16-7 16-12, and then 9z 16-12 16-7. The path to the finals was completely different for the two teams, but nonetheless, previous results didn't matter. It was do or die for both teams.
The first map led us to paiN's choice of Dust2, a map we here at this website adore. Spirit chose the CT-side and got off to a quick start, winning the pistol round and the following three for an early lead. paiN struck back soon after and the rounds went back and forth, with paiN finally putting together more than two rounds in a row near the end of the half. pain ended with a respectable seven rounds on their T-side, a good starting point for their defensive side.
paiN struck back with their own pistol and indeed one-upped Spirit by winning the four rounds following, a total of eight rounds in a row. Spirit attempted a resurgence but the Brazilian defense proved too staunch as just a few more rounds went their way and they converted their map pick 16-12. This marked the first map loss for Spirit in the entire playoffs.
We moved on to Spirit's pick of Nuke next, but it was in fast paiN to strike the first blow as they won their first two CT side rounds. Spirit struck back with three of their own, and overall won the round trades, keeping paiN to a paltry five CT-sided rounds on the map.
Evidently eager to close out the game, Spirit won their CT-side pistol as well, and although paiN were able to strike back three T-side rounds after their save, the Sisyphean effort was too much, and Spirit came away with their map pick in dominant fashion at 16-8, forcing us to a third and final map.
As the two teams moved onto the decider Vertigo, both were hungry with desire for the six figure grand prize. However, the beginning showed a completely lopsided affair. paiN started on the defensive side and won the pistol round with no casualties. However, this would prove to be the last good news for the Brazilians for a while. Spirit went on an unprecedented run, stringing together eleven rounds in a row before a smoke defuse ended that streak. paiN won another round off the back of that round, but Spirit ended off the half with an ace from Igor "w0nderful" Zhdanov.
Facing a nine round deficit, paiN needed a miracle to get back in the game. They won the compulsory pistol round and the conversion as well, but a stumble in the third round tightened the lid on their coffin. Spirit walked their way to fifteen rounds, just one away from the $100,000 grand prize, when paiN took a round back their way. paiN played with a fire underneath them, clawing rounds back one at a time. The party ended in the twenty-sixth round as Spirit finally took their sixteenth round, winning the series 2-1.
paiNSpirit| paiN |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Felipe 'skullz' Medeiros |
64 - 53 | +11 | 91.8 | 67.9% | 1.26 |
| Romeu 'zevy' Rocco |
51 - 49 | +2 | 71.6 | 66.7% | 1.03 |
| Vinicios 'PKL' Coelho |
38 - 53 | -15 | 63.7 | 64.1% | 0.82 |
| Rodrigo 'biguzera' Bittencourt |
37 - 61 | -24 | 55.7 | 65.4% | 0.69 |
| Wesley 'hardzao' Lopes |
30 - 52 | -22 | 43.6 | 66.7% | 0.66 |
| Spirit |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Robert 'Patsi' Isyanov |
75 - 50 | +25 | 104.3 | 76.9% | 1.51 |
 Ihor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov |
65 - 35 | +30 | 88.5 | 82.1% | 1.48 |
| Leonid 'chopper' Vishnyakov |
57 - 40 | +17 | 76.2 | 80.8% | 1.30 |
| Boris 'magixx' Vorobiev |
36 - 44 | -8 | 56.1 | 73.1% | 0.93 |
| Pavel 's1ren' Ogloblin |
35 - 52 | -17 | 53.9 | 66.7% | 0.78 |
