paiN vs. MIBR, what to expect

The BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2023 Americas starts today with a Brazilian derby between paiN and MIBR, a matchup not seen since the IEM Rio 2023 North America closed qualifier where MIBR came out on top with a 2-0 win, despite two very close maps.

This series marks paiN's comeback to the server after placing 9-12th in ESL Pro League Season 17, where they defeated Liquid in round one of playoffs, but fell after that to MOUZ. MIBR come to the game after a very successful run on ESL Challenger League Season 44 NA, where they essentially went undefeated, but had to forfeit one match due to a scheduling conflict. .

The best BR team?

paiN have risen through the ranks recently, despite a low period immediately after their AWPer's departure, Rafael "saffee" Costa. The addition of two young stars in Felipe "skullz" Medeiros and Romeu "zevy" Rocco has been proving fruitful, as their maturity inside the server has been increasing, alongside the team's overall performance. ESL Pro League S17 showed a paiN team that opponents now fear, and that has sparked the discussion about paiN being very close to FURIA in terms of recent performances.

• zevy and skullz share a 1.18 average rating

• Recent wins against OG and Liquid

• Somewhat rested after a week without official games

Very hot Brazilians (in-game)

If paiN are considered the second-best, MIBR should be the third-best, despite not being close to paiN's result at EPL S17. This MIBR roster has also been through recent changes; swapping IGLs, adding a new AWP, and even adding an academy player to the main team. But these changes seem to have created one of the best iterations of the legendary org in recent years. Domestically, MIBR swept all tournaments in NA, conquering ESL Challenger League, CCT North America, IEM Rio 2023 Closed Qualifier, and easily getting a spot in the BLAST Paris Major Americas RMR. Can MIBR take advantage of their momentum to open Spring Showdown with a win?

• Felipe "insani" Yuji has a 1.25 average rating in two months

• Henrique "HEN1" Teles seems to have found his new home

• 78.1% win rate in the last three months

Likely vetoes

The veto process for BLAST events gives the higher seed the choice between banning first or second, but paiN should choose to start the banning phase, given their aversion to Overpass.

• paiN ban Overpass

• MIBR ban Mirage

• paiN pick Nuke

• MIBR pick Vertigo

• Anubis would be the decider, as both teams have good win rates on it

paiN vs. MIBR starts at 03:30PM and will be the opening series of BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2023 Americas.