paiN send TheMongolz packing after chaotic Inferno game

TheMongolz bow out after fighting tooth and nail on the decider map.

The Elimination Stage of PGL Major Copenhagen has claimed its first victim, as paiN have sent The MongolZ packing after a hotly-contested three-map series in the 0-2 pool.

The MongolZ will be lamenting their inability to replicate their Opening Stage heroics after reaching te second stage of the Major off the back of an impressive recovery from the 0-2 pool, one which required three consecutive BO3 wins over AMKAL, Lynn Vision, and Legacy.

paiN will no doubt be pleased that they have managed to keep their run alive, with the caveat that their run through the Elimination Stage so far has been less confident than their 3-1 trot through the Opening Stage.

This all-important series kicked off on The MongolZ's pick of Mirage, where Garidmagnai "⁠bLitz⁠" Byambasuren and co. dominated on the offense, accruing an 8-2 lead that was whittled to an 8-4 scoreline at halftime. Although paiN failed to win the second pistol round, the Brazilian side began to claw back on their T side, bringing the squads within two rounds of one another, but The MongolZ soon composed themselves to lock down their pick 13-9.

The MongolZ kept up their momentum as paiN's pick of Nuke kicked off, but the Brazilians bounced back, rounding out the half with a 7-5 scoreline. The MongolZ retorted with a solid streak of rounds on the offense to wrest control of the lead, but Rodrigo "⁠biguzera⁠" Bittencourt's troops composed themselves to secure their pick 13-10, bringing the series to Inferno.

Inferno started in mundane fashion, with neither of the two sides able to secure the upper hand over the other, culminating in a 6-6 tie at halftime. This continued into the early portion of the second half, but a number of jaw-dropping situations soon dragged the map into chaos. A teamkill on the defense from Ayush "⁠mzinho⁠" Batbold allowed paiN to wrest control of the game, but the Brazilian side fumbled an inexplicable round to give The MongolZ a lifeline.

One inexplicable round loss very quickly turned to two, allowing The MongolZ to drag Inferno into overtime.

One overtime was not enough to crown a victor, as The MongolZ fumbled their opportunity to close it out in the first set of post-regulation rounds, allowing paiN to bring it to double overtime. Although paiN missed out on closing things in the subsequent overtime, the Brazilian side rallied in the eventual third overtime, finally closing out this barnburner of a map with a 22-19 scoreline.