What to expect from paiN v. Apeks

It's not going to be easy for paiN this afternoon as they face the monumental task of going up against the BLAST.tv Paris Major semifinalists Apeks. It's not necessarily a David v. Goliath battle, but it's close. This paiN team was not expected to qualify for the Major having reconstructed their entire team over the previous summer. With Rodrigo "biguzera" Bittencourt staying on as the star, the team has supassed expectations and are hoping to make a splash.

Bring the paiN

Despite being on the weaker Brazilian teams on paper, this paiN team can be a surprise, thanks to biguzera and Lucas "nqz" Soares. Both players have been in phenomenal form and will be the key difference-makers if they want to upset the European squad. But if paiN are to do any sort of upset, they will need to win the emotional game first.

• paiN need confidence to build upon any advantage

• Playing fundamental Brazilian CS and remaining unpredictable

• Cannot let emotions rule the day, keeping a cool head

Apeks to the Moon

Apeks is still a strong team. This is the same core that went all the way to the semifinals of the BLAST.tv Paris Major and Martin "STYKO" Styk has continued to lead this team to victory. Now, with the young Ådne "sense" Fredriksen coming into his own, this team looks just as strong while being dynamically different. They're still the heavy favorites, but they're not immune to an upset.

• CacaNito is the star of the show

• nawwk on the AWP is critical to the team's success

• jkaem and STYKO need to be the guiding emotional leaders

Previous Matchups

These two sides have never played against one another.

Likely Vetoes

The vetoes are actually favoring paiN in this matchup. The Brazilians are able to remove the best maps from Apeks while leaving Mirage and Inferno, two maps that Apeks has been playing lately, but struggling on, in the pool. This will be an interesting matchup with the maps potentially putting Apeks on the back foot.

• Apeks remove Nuke

• Apeks remove Overpass

• paiN remove Ancient

• paiN remove Anubis

• paiN remove Vertigo

• Apeks remove Inferno

• Mirage is left over

paiN and Apeks are playing immediately following the first round of games.