PKL: "Every map against Imperial is always close, so we expect it to be really hard for both teams"

The Brazilian in-game leader sees a lot of potential in paiN's new youngsters, Romeu "⁠zevy⁠" Rocco and Felipe "⁠skullz⁠" Medeiros.

paiN started their Flow FiReLEAGUE Global Finals run at the Spotify Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain, with a victory against MASONIC. It wasn't easy for the Brazilians, who came out on top in a hard fought series that went the distance with three overtimes on the decider map of Ancient. The young Danes had previously opened the scoresheet with a 16-14 win on Vertigo, after which paiN struck back 16-9 on their Dust2 pick.

paiN will go on to face Imperial in the semi-finals on Sunday at 14:00 , as Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo and company took out Isurus in two close maps to end the first day of play in the Catalan capital. Before the Brazilian derby on Sunday, the final two quarter-finals will be played on Saturday — Spirit vs. WINDINGO on one hand and MIBR against 9z on the other.

We caught up with paiN stalwart Vinicios "⁠PKL⁠" Coelho to talk about the team's evolution since bringing on two young newcomers, zevy and skullz, as they went from winning ESL Challenger Melbourne to missing out on a spot at the IEM Rio Major in the Americas RMR.

The Brazilian in-game leader also talked about the intense matches against Imperial in the past month, the opening match against MASONIC at the Flow FiReLEAGUE Global Finals, and what direction the 28-year-old sees his team taking in the near future.

I want to start this interview going back a little bit to ESL Challenger Melbourne, and then touch on the RMR. You won in Melbourne and beat Imperial twice, but then at the RMR you didn't have that same push against them and failed to qualify for the Major. Tell me a bit about the early days of this new lineup and its evolution so far.

In the beginning we were playing really well, we didn't lose a single map in the RMR qualifier in Brazil. After this we went to Melbourne and played really well, we played really well against Imperial and showed a lot of confidence against them, but then we started to play less aggressively than at the beginning because of the new lineup and stuff like that.

We didn't play our best game, our A game, at the RMR. Right now we're trying to get back to how we were at the beginning, playing with more confidence, with an aggressive style.

You only lost to teams that made it through to the Major at the RMR and you made it all the way to the playoff for the final Major spot. What little bit extra do you need to unlock the next level?

I think we need more experience on LAN. zevy and skullz, our new players, they're young and these are skullz first times playing on LAN outside of Brazil. We need a bit more experience together, in-game, with our teamplay, stuff like that. We also need a bit more experience with our confidence on LAN. We need just a bit more time together and we'll be good.

You fell just short of the Major and now you're here. How does that affect this tournament, is it more important now that you have a good showing here?

Yeah, of course, we have to show that not qualifying for the Major was a mistake. We have to show our best game for the fans and our organization, to show that we didn't play well at the RMR.

It's MASONIC's first international LAN and they don't have that much experience. What did you make of this match-up, what was your preparation like?

We prepared for them like anyone else, as if it were FaZe or anyone else, the same preparation as any team. We prepared a bit and talked about them, about their maps. We just struggled a bit in the beginning of the game. We were winning like 12-6 and started to play a little bit anxiously. It's the first match of the tournament and the first match is always a struggle, so we struggled a bit but that's it.

Did you expect they would put up this much of a fight, winning Vertigo and then going to triple-overtime on Ancient? They played well on the terrorist side of Ancient, too, which is not always easy. What did you think of them?

To be honest, at the beginning when we were winning, the game was easy for us. The map started to get harder as it went on, we got anxious to close it out and we started to struggle a lot. In the end we stayed calm throughout the whole match, and on Ancient, we saved like five match points. They play really well, they have a lot of individual performers, but we managed to stay calm and come back on Ancient.

Do you think it was the experience shining through at the end?

Yeah, I think so, I think so. biguzera, hardzao, and me are old players. We have a lot of experience on LAN and I think that in the end that made the difference.

This tournament is in Barcelona, but at the same time it has mostly South American teams and the tournament organizer is also from South America. It's in Europe, but does it feel a bit like home?

No, to be honest, for us Brazilians it's not like home. I think for the Argentine teams that can speak Spanish it's more similar, more like home. Yeah, we're playing with Imperial, MIBR, teams that we're used to seeing, so that helps, but people here don't speak Portuguese and it's a different culture.

Some of the Imperial and MIBR guys went to watch the Barça match here the other day. Did any of you guys go?

We were practicing that day, so no, we didn't.

Priorities...

Yeah, I think so. [laughs]

You're on Imperial's side of the bracket, that could be the next match-up for you. You had the wins in Melbourne, the losses at the RMR. What do you think of that match-up now, in this tournament?

This match-up will be hard for us because it's always a hard game against them. We won three maps and lost three maps, so out of the past six maps, it's tied. Every map against them is like 16-14, or overtime, or always close, so we expect it to be really hard for them and for us, but we expect that the rematch will be different than the RMR.

You guys were really on the up at the end of last year, it was very visible that you were getting better and better. Where do you see the team now, where does paiN exist on the global scene?

I see my team has a lot of potential, with two really good young players, skullz and zevy, and I think that with time we can be top 10. We're around the top 20, we're winning and losing against teams in that tier, but I think with more time for us and for our new players we'll be breaking into the top 10 really soon.