paiN reach EPL playoffs for the first time
With a playoff spot on the line, paiN and Grayhound fought each other to get a spot in the knockout stage, before the Last Chance stage, in a series that would see a very confident Aussie side coming after wins over NIP and 00 Nation. On the other side was a paiN squad that managed to beat OG after having defeated Rooster. Both teams started the group stage with losses, which means that these runs were both done in the lower bracket.
The loser of this series joins OG, NIP, and 00 Nation in the Last Chance stage for just one spot in the playoffs.
The map veto saw Inferno being picked by Grayhound, Nuke by paiN, and Anubis was left as the decider, in case they won a map.
The first half of Inferno has Grayhound start off 5-0 up on the T-side, as the Brazilian team took a while to get things going. paiN managed to get three in a row after, but the Aussies replied in the same way. Ultimately, Wesley "hardzao" Lopes spearheaded a four-round streak to end the half 8-7 down.
The T-side of paiN was nowhere to be seen, mostly thanks to Simon "Sico" Williams who finished the second half with 103.5 ADR. Grayhound closed the first map with an 8-0 CT-side half, and a 16-7 final score.
Nuke started with a reflection of Inferno. paiN opened an early 5-0 T-side half and then a couple more. With things looking poor for Grayhound after seven rounds, the Aussies started to regain their confidence and managed to get a comeback going. And what a comeback it was, as the team from down under switched sides with a 8-7 advantage, after getting eight rounds in a row.
The second half had paiN recovering from the last rounds of the first one and the Brazilians got back in the lead 13-8. From then onwards, the teams exchanged rounds as Grayhound wasn't able to string more than two rounds together and neither was paiN. Nuke ended with a 16-12 score for paiN.
Anubis was the first of the three maps that did not start with a team having a huge lead. Grayhound, on the CT-side, got the pistol and the following round but paiN replied with two of their own and some more. Anubis has been considered as a map that is favorable to the T-side, and paiN reinforced that theory with an 11-4 half.
The second half of Anubis was just like the first. Pistol plus one for the CT-side team, paiN, and then just a T-side domination, this time from Grayhound. The Aussies managed to get to just a two round deficit with a 13-11 score, but it was at that time that paiN woke up and managed to get to a series point. Grayhound got to 12 rounds putting paiN in a tough place financially. The Brazilians managed to close the map 16-12 with just pistols.
paiN is headed to playoffs for the first time in the organization's history, and Grayhound will have another chance in the Last Chance stage against 00 Nation, tomorrow at 07:30AM
paiNGrayhound| paiN |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Felipe 'skullz' Medeiros |
53 - 51 | +2 | 76.1 | 72.2% | 1.15 |
| Rodrigo 'biguzera' Bittencourt |
56 - 51 | +5 | 76.6 | 70.9% | 1.10 |
| Wesley 'hardzao' Lopes |
50 - 50 | +0 | 68.4 | 73.4% | 0.99 |
| Romeu 'zevy' Rocco |
49 - 49 | +0 | 60.6 | 68.4% | 0.98 |
| Gabriel 'NEKIZ' Schenato |
41 - 55 | -14 | 64.7 | 64.6% | 0.82 |
| Grayhound |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Joshua 'INS' Potter |
65 - 56 | +9 | 89.8 | 72.2% | 1.28 |
 Simon 'Sico' Williams |
58 - 49 | +9 | 83.7 | 77.2% | 1.20 |
| Jay 'Liazz' Tregillgas |
47 - 48 | -1 | 64.8 | 72.2% | 0.97 |
| Declan 'Vexite' Portelli |
45 - 51 | -6 | 61.7 | 64.6% | 0.90 |
| Alistair 'aliStair' Johnston |
38 - 47 | -9 | 55.0 | 74.7% | 0.89 |
