paiN send OG to last chance stage in Malta

The Brazilians edged past their rivals to remain in the ESL Pro League Group C lower bracket.

paiN and OG played a long ESL Pro League Season 17 Group C lower bracket series with two of the three maps going all the way down to the wire, including the decider on Inferno that went the way of the Brazilians.

This victory keeps paiN in the lower bracket, where they are slated to play the winner of Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. Grayhound in the final for a spot in the playoffs, while OG have been knocked down to the last chance stage where they will face the loser of the aforementioned series for survival.

This series showed paiN's solid fundamentals and marked improvement with newcomer Felipe "⁠skullz⁠" Medeiros showing fine form, while OG have are struggling without their in-game leader Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković, who was sidelined in February and has been substituted for the event in Malta by Nikolaj "⁠niko⁠" Kristensen.

The series kicked off on paiN’s Vertigo, where the Brazilian side was quick to establish a healthy lead winning seven out of the first eight rounds with an in-shape skullz leading the charge on the attack. The 20-year-old posted a 1vs3 clitch ace in the tenth round to make it 8-2 and force the European squad to an eco.

The 11-4 half gave paiN a lot of breathing room to close things out on the CT side, but Maciej "⁠F1KU⁠" Miklas, who was already showing great form on the defense, spearheaded his team’s efforts to make a comeback. In the end the Brazilians hit the critical match point at 15-11, but it took all the way to the last round of regulation for them to close it out by converting on a 5vs3 superiority.

paiN were once again the first to strike, this time on Overpass, leading through the first 11 rounds, 8-3, although a final push by OG with four victories on the trot brought it back to just within one round. From there on out it was a one team show as Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan and company put up a wall. The Israeli rifler posted a 2.63 CT-side rating in a 9-0 streak for his side that ended the map 16-8.

paiN’s attacking side revived on Inferno after going missing in Overpass as the Brazilians found their rhythm in the early stages of the map, winning the pistol round and the two following. skullz was once again showing his best with 14 kills and 110 ADR as he and his team led by three at the switch.

Like on Vertigo, OG struck back on the attack and by round 21 were once again in the lead, 11-10, although paiN tied it right back up heading into the dying rounds of the decider map. OG broke paiN’s economy to get ahead 14-12 and it looked like it was a done deal, but they choked the critical moments and the Brazilian squad won four on the trot as skullz hit 30 in his team’s 16-14 victory.