paiN complete flawless ESEA Advanced season; ESEA Premier Relegation lineup finalized
paiN have completed their perfect season with a 3-0 victory over PDHM in the grand final of ESEA Advanced Season 36. The Brazilians will advance directly to Premier Season 37 and avoid playing in Relegation entirely, while PDHM will be joined by Big Chillin as the top two ESEA Advanced delegates in Relegation.
Tuesday's consolidation final was a back and forth affair from start to finish. PDHM converted a slim 8-7 halftime lead into a narrow victory on Inferno, a map that featured five lead changes and a 28 kill performance from Devin "Xzen" Barber that couldn't stop PDHM from going up 1-0 in the series. Alexander "knightmare" Sozzi led PDHM with 25 frags in the win.
Big Chillin bounced back with a convincing win on Overpass where they were able to even the series at their leisure after jumping out to a huge 12-3 lead on their T-side. Michael "Munk" Klotz led all players with 27 frags to help Big Chillin even the series, while PDHM were led by Brandon "Sharkie" Ly's 21 kills in the loss.
The decider on Dust2 went the distance, as PDHM came back from a 10-5 deficit at the half to win seven of the final eight rounds and secure a grand final berth without needing overtime. Sharkie came up big for PDHM with 27 kills in the series-clinching win, while Xzen led Big Chillin again, this time with a server-best 32 frags in the loss.
Big ChillinPDHM| Big Chillin |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Devin 'Xzen' Barber |
82 - 52 | +30 | 101.7 | 77.6% | 1.42 |
| Michael 'Munk' Klotz |
66 - 57 | +9 | 76.6 | 62.4% | 1.17 |
| Blake 'Elk' Swinson |
58 - 59 | -1 | 77.7 | 67.1% | 1.11 |
| Brendan 'Melloh' Mello |
52 - 60 | -8 | 66.3 | 74.1% | 0.96 |
| Matt 'dvl' Buechel |
38 - 58 | -20 | 59.6 | 67.1% | 0.83 |
| PDHM |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon 'Sharkie' Ly |
71 - 65 | +6 | 83.2 | 67.1% | 1.16 |
| Alexander 'knightmare' Sozzi |
58 - 59 | -1 | 86.0 | 68.2% | 1.10 |
| Malick 'dangle' Abid |
58 - 59 | -1 | 70.7 | 68.2% | 1.02 |
| Josh 'Spoice' Betters |
57 - 56 | +1 | 70.2 | 68.2% | 1.02 |
| Brian 'Brian2K' Ladron De Guevara |
41 - 61 | -20 | 59.8 | 64.7% | 0.78 |
paiN entered the grand final with a 1-0 series lead from the upper bracket and wasted no time widening that gap. The South American side took a modest 9-6 lead on their CT-side, but then dominated on the attack and lost just one round in the second half. Gabriel "NEKIZ" Schenato led the way for paiN with 23 kills while Malick "dangle" Abid topped the scoreboard for PDHM with 19 frags as he and his teammates were pushed to the brink of elimination.
But PDHM refused to go quietly into the night. They came out swinging on their pick of Inferno and even reached match point first, but then failed to convert five opportunities in a row to extend the series and allowed the Brazilians back into the map. paiN carried that momentum into overtime and allowed PDHM just one round, altogether winning nine of the last ten rounds to secure the map, series, and division title. Vinicios "PKL" Coelho tallied a server-high 31 kills in the decider, while knightmare managed 27 frags as he and his teammates were sent to ESEA Season 36 Relegation for a first-round rematch with Big Chillin.
paiNPDHM| paiN |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Vinicios 'PKL' Coelho |
48 - 35 | +13 | 90.7 | 79.3% | 1.34 |
| Rafael 'saffee' Costa |
47 - 30 | +17 | 79.8 | 82.8% | 1.31 |
| Gabriel 'NEKIZ' Schenato |
46 - 33 | +13 | 81.7 | 72.4% | 1.26 |
| Rodrigo 'biguzera' Bittencourt |
44 - 33 | +11 | 79.0 | 69.0% | 1.15 |
| Wesley 'hardzao' Lopes |
36 - 40 | -4 | 72.6 | 77.6% | 1.05 |
| PDHM |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh 'Spoice' Betters |
32 - 41 | -9 | 61.2 | 69.0% | 0.95 |
| Malick 'dangle' Abid |
40 - 42 | -2 | 73.1 | 63.8% | 0.93 |
| Alexander 'knightmare' Sozzi |
38 - 52 | -14 | 76.5 | 67.2% | 0.88 |
| Brandon 'Sharkie' Ly |
33 - 46 | -13 | 63.8 | 56.9% | 0.80 |
| Brian 'Brian2K' Ladron De Guevara |
28 - 41 | -13 | 53.7 | 55.2% | 0.73 |
The final standings for ESEA Advanced Season 36 are:
1. paiN - $5,000, ESEA Premier S37
2. PDHM - $3,250, ESEA Premier S36 Relegation
3. Big Chillin - $2,250, ESEA Premier S36 Relegation
4. 
Veloz - $1,500, ESEA Premier S36 Relegation
5-6. HeadShotKings - $1,000, ESEA Premier S36 Relegation
5-6. Recon 5 Black - $1,000, ESEA Premier S36 Relegation
7-8. [sam] Infinity - $500
7-8. UYU - $500
Based on seeding, the first-round matchups for ESEA Premier Season 36 Relegation are:
| SKDC |
vs. | HeadShotKings |
| Levitate |
vs. | Recon 5 Black |
| ImPerium |
vs. | Veloz |
| PDHM |
vs. | Big Chillin |
ESEA Premier Season 36 Relegation begins tomorrow and will conclude by Sunday.
