What to expect from Monte v. paiN

North America's resident Brazilian's paiN broke NA hearts in their 1-1 match against Complexity as they waltzed away to a 16-4 victory, giving them a shot at reaching the Legends stage against Apeks. A crushingly close loss to the EU side has left paiN with a final shot at progressing to the next stage against Monte. Meanwhile, Monte finds themselves with a chance to secure legends status after beating TheMongolz 2-0 in their elimination match.

Also read: EliGE on facing Grayhound: "I think it's a good matchup for us"

paiN's fire is in danger of being put out

paiN have been in incredible form coming into the Major and they showed no sign of stopping as they decimated fellow Brazilian side Fluxo in their opening match. They had the chance to overcome FaZe in their next match but a few key duels went the way of the Grand Slam winners, leaving paiN to rue their missed chance as they fell to a 16-12 scoreline.

The Rodrigo "biguzera" Bittencourt-led team then produced an imperious display against Complexity, to give themselves a first shot at progression. The team would battle Apeks for the Legends spot and fell in a three-map affair after only managing two rounds on the T side.

Romeu "zevy" Rocco only managed a 0.72 rating against Apeks
biguzera highest rated paiN player at event 1.16
paiN qualifying for Legends would be the first time any of their players have got past the Challengers stage.

Monte continues to impress in Major debut

Monte was one of the big surprises from the RMR qualifiers, having made it to the Challengers stage the wider community started to take notice of the team. With former NAVI member Viktor "sdy " Orudzhev taking over calling duties heading into the Major the team nearly upset FaZe in their opening game. After that 16-14 loss Monte beat Fluxo and despite losing a grudge match against FORZE, the Ukrainian team bounced back against TheMongolz securing a comfortable 2-0 .

Mohammad "BOROS" Malhas sixth highest-rated player at the event, 1.28
Monte has a team average of 1.07 at the event, just behind paiN's 1.09
sdy is looking to make it out of Challengers for only the second time in five attempts.

Likely Vetoes

Monte ban Inferno, perma-ban
paiN ban Overpass, only played four times in three months
Monte pick Mirage, on a seven-map win streak
paiN pick Nuke, 72% win rate
Decider Anubis, both teams enjoy playing but are unlikely to risk a pick on it

Also read: daps: "YEKINDAR will just call because he has more reps on these maps"