NAVI secure final Major playoff spot over paiN

paiN end their underdog run without a top-eight berth.

Natus Vincere became the final playoff team at PGL Major Copenhagen after beating paiN in a two-map series (Nuke 13-10, Mirage 13-9) to end the Brazilian's dreams of a shock top-eight appearance.

Natus Vincere's road to the playoffs began with two best-of-one wins against The MongolZ and G2 before three-map losses against Spirit and Cloud9 sent them down to the 2-2 bracket, where they met expectations in their win against paiN.

Date	Matches
PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen 2024
21/03/2024	Natus Vincere Finished 13:10 The MongolZ	Match
21/03/2024	Natus Vincere Finished 13:11 G2	Match
22/03/2024	Spirit Finished 2:1 Natus Vincere	Match
23/03/2024	Cloud9 Finished 2:1 Natus Vincere	Match
24/03/2024	Natus Vincere Finished 2:0 paiN	Match

"I don't think I feel it yet, when I sit down and see the crowd, that's when I'll feel it," said Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen about the qualification. "Top eight is not enough for me, I want to show I can push it further. The game is going to be different when you get on stage, and these guys have the experience. We're going to step it up a notch on the stage."

The team, which lost superstar Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev after the release of CS2, has now achieved its biggest success since the organization's international move, and Aleksib attributes that to a change in mentality. "Maybe [s1mple leaving] opened our individuals to more responsibility. Blad3 was giving them a lot of critical feedback before, and after s1mple left, he kind of got a "no bullshit mode," and told everyone they need to deliver," the Finnish captain said.

On the other side of the server, this is an end to a spirited run in Copenhagen for paiN, whose captain, Rodrigo "⁠biguzera⁠" Bittencourt, was full of praise of their journey. "We did everything we could, but we felt a lot of pressure, and it was difficult to keep the team calm. I'm so proud of everything we did until now, I love my teammates," he ended his post-match interview.

The series began on Nuke, where Natus Vincere quickly negated paiN's pistol-round win to eventually secure a 9-3 half on the CT side. They returned the favor with a pistol of their own but were quickly reeled back in by paiN's forcebuy, which got the Brazilians to 10-11. Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavicius then delivered a crucial triple kill on an eco to get his team back to winning ways, and they took that momentum to close out a 13-10 victory.

Natus Vincere got another good start on Mirage that was made even better after an eco win at 4-2, with the European combine securing an 8-4 half off the back of that round. They were quick to reach double digits at the start of their CT campaign, and while paiN once again fought from behind and reduced the deficit to 9-10, they fell short as Natus Vincere secured a 13-9 victory.