Official: paiN bench NEKIZ; aim to promote academy star

Brazilian side paiN have announced the benching of Gabriel "NEKIZ" Schenato, with the player subsequently declaring that he is open to new offers in Brazil. This move comes amidst a report from Dust2 Brasil that paiN is interested in promoting paiN Academy player Cássio "cass1n" Santos while also acquiring Lucas "lux" Meneghini from Fluxo.

NEKIZ returned to paiN's starting roster in February of this year, with only a brief two-month stint with Vito "kNgV-" Giuseppe's O PLANO breaking up NEKIZ's seven-month period on paiN's bench. Following his reintroduction to the active roster, NEKIZ helped paiN to solid international placings, with a second-place finish in the BLAST.tv Paris Major Americas RMR, as well as a playoff finish in ESL Pro League Season 17.

NEKIZ's comeback was not without some unfortunate results however, as team finished their Paris Major run with a disappointing 2-3 placing in the Challengers Stage, and followed that with a missed chance at qualifying for Gamers8 2023 after falling to ATK in the open qualifier. paiN capped off their year with a last-place exit from ESL Challenger Katowice, a sour ending to a season that had such a promising start.

Alongside the recent report by Game Arena which suggests that Fluxo is targeting Romeu "zevy" Rocco, Wesley "hardzao" Lopes, and Vinicios "PKL" Coelho, this move leaves only two players, Felipe "skullz" Medeiros and Rodrigo "biguzera" Bittencourt on the team's active lineup. To fill some of the gaps left behind, Dust2 Brasil's report states that paiN is intent on promoting AWPer cass1n from the organization's academy squad, while also acquiring lux from Fluxo's bench. Should Fluxo sign all three of zevy, hardzao, and PKL, NEKIZ's benching would mean that paiN would need one more signing to field a full lineup.

If all these moves come to fruition, paiN will be:

• Rodrigo "biguzera" Bittencourt

• Felipe "skullz" Medeiros

• Cássio "cass1n" Santos

• Lucas "lux" Meneghini

• Gabriel "NEKIZ" Schenato (Inactive)

• Henrique "rikz" Waku (Coach)

paiN will be looking to finalize their lineup ahead of the IEM Cologne Play-In, slated to begin July 25th.