The Brazilians have ensured back-to-back top-16 placements at Majors.
paiN have earned a spot in the next stage of Perfect World Shanghai Major, taking down FlyQuest 2-0 with wins on Vertigo (16-14) and Inferno (13-6).
Despite being one of the favored teams to make it through to the next stage paiN didn’t end up having the easiest of times, needing to bounce back from a BO1 loss against GamerLegion and clinch a tight 13-11 win over Cloud9.
Their difficult route continued in the first map against FlyQuest as the Aussies pushed them all the way to overtime on Vertigo. The map was a brawl-heavy affair, with both teams producing some good CS, but ultimately paiN’s superior playbook was enough to see them through on their own map pick.
Lucas “nqz” Soares produced a memorable USP ace to kick off Inferno, and that was a real boon for paiN as they struggled early on their CT side. They looked unsure of their rotations and had real problems holding B, which FlyQuest exploited, but nqz provided yet more impact by holding down Brackets with his AWP in back-to-back rounds to net them the lead at the half.
The T side was a masterclass in direct CS from paiN; the Brazilians exposed FlyQuest’s disjointed holds on the bombsites and were a force to be reckoned with in head-to-head duels. With a force-buy win in their back pocket and some clever Rodrigo “biguzera” Bittencourt reads bolstering their efforts, paiN easily secured the victory.
FlyQuest, much as in their series against Liquid yesterday, played some great CS, but were unable to capitalize and capitulated on the final map. The individuals cooled off quicker today than against Liquid, which was a real problem on Inferno, but they also became more disjointed as the series wore on, a worrying sign heading into the final day of the Opening Stage.
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