Imperial have beaten paiN and taken revenge on BESTIA to reach the final of Circuit X Curitiba Season 4. A title on Sunday night would strengthen their grip on one of the last Americas places at PGL Major Singapore, and their opponent comes from the two teams chasing them hardest.
Update, 26 October: Imperial won the final 2-0 against paiN, who had beaten BESTIA 2-1 in the lower bracket final. Imperial took Anubis 13-7 and Cache 13-9, in-game leader VINI finished the series 43-24, and HLTV’s invite simulator now gives Imperial an 86.6% chance of a Major invitation.
Imperial Esports play the grand final of Circuit X Curitiba Season 4 on , against the winner of the lower bracket final between paiN and BESTIA at . The event is small, $15,000 in total and $8,400 for the winner, but it is one of the last places where Brazilian teams can collect points in Valve’s Regional Standings before the Major invitations are drawn from them on 2 November.
Three of the four teams left in Curitiba are in that race. Six of the nine Americas places are already settled, and in HLTV’s invite simulator Imperial are eighth with a 79.2% chance of an invitation. paiN are tenth at 30.3%, the first team outside, and BESTIA twelfth at 7.4%.
| Team | Chance of a Major invite | Projected place in the Americas |
|---|---|---|
 DENDELE | 92.4% | 7th |
 Imperial | 79.2% | 8th |
| Wildcard | 68.2% | 9th |
 paiN | 30.3% | 10th |
| NRG | 22.2% | 11th |
 BESTIA | 7.4% | 12th |
Revenge on BESTIA
Imperial’s road to the final went through both of the teams that could meet them in it. They opened the playoffs by beating paiN 2-1, taking Inferno 13-3 and Mirage 13-9 after losing Anubis 14-16 in overtime.
Imperial2-1paiNInferno 13-3, Anubis 14-16, Mirage 13-9The upper bracket final against BESTIA had a score to settle. The Argentinian side had beaten Imperial 2-0 in the group stage, 13-7 on both Dust2 and Mirage, and Marcelo “chelo” Cespedes went 11-32 in that series. On Saturday night in Brazil, Imperial ended a run of two straight defeats against BESTIA. They won Nuke 13-10 after leading 7-5 at the half, and on BESTIA’s pick, Dust2, they recovered from a 5-7 first half and won the overtime 4-0 for 16-12.
Imperial2-0BESTIAStatsNuke 13-10, Dust2 16-12
| Imperial | K-D | +/- | ADR | KAST |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 chelo | 38-31 | +7 | 72.7 | 74.5% |
| saadzin | 31-24 | +7 | 67.1 | 78.4% |
| decenty | 38-32 | +6 | 77.8 | 64.7% |
| noway | 34-33 | +1 | 69.2 | 72.5% |
| VINI | 25-33 | -8 | 69.2 | 76.5% |
| BESTIA | K-D | +/- | ADR | KAST |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cass1n | 30-25 | +5 | 69.9 | 74.5% |
 buda | 36-36 | 0 | 87.6 | 66.7% |
| drop | 31-35 | -4 | 57.1 | 68.6% |
 timo | 28-35 | -7 | 63.6 | 70.6% |
| kauez | 28-35 | -7 | 57.9 | 64.7% |
This time chelo was the best-rated player on the server. He shared the series high of 38 kills with decenty and had the best CT half of anyone on Dust2, the half in which Imperial turned the map around. The entry fragger knows the organisation well: he left Imperial for FURIA in 2023 and came back in July 2025.
The rest of the lineup has been rebuilt around in-game leader Vinicius “VINI” Figueiredo, the last player left from the “Last Dance” roster Imperial signed with FalleN in February 2022. decenty returned in February, the AWPer saadzin arrived from Legacy in July, and Marcos “tacitus” Castilho took over as coach in August.
Why the final matters
In HLTV’s simulator, Imperial’s chance rose from 58% to 79% over the two playoff wins. The final is the next step, and Gamers Club Masters VII from 29 October is likely to be the last. There, the simulator gives Imperial a 94% chance of an invitation if they reach the final and 61% if they do not.
VRS analyst Mischief made the same point on Saturday afternoon. In his model, a win in Curitiba “would put them in a great position for Gamers Club”, while anything less would probably leave Imperial needing a top-three finish there.
For paiN, the lower bracket final is the first must-win game. They beat Galorys 2-0 on Saturday, and the simulator puts them at 55% with a Gamers Club final and 13% without one, so the more points they bring from Curitiba, the less they have to do in a week. João “snow” Vinicius told Dust2 Brasil that he agreed with the criticism of paiN’s map pool, which leaned heavily on Nuke under the old lineup, and that the team has worked on other maps since its two-player change. paiN have not beaten Imperial since 2024, according to Dust2 Brasil, and snow admitted the recent meetings had not gone their way.
BESTIA need the most help. After Curitiba they have FiRe Last Chance from 29 October, where the simulator gives them 17% with a top-four finish and less than 1% without one.
The Curitiba event has already ended one Brazilian team’s hopes this week. Fluxo’s Major chances collapsed when they went out in the group stage, and they are down to 2% in HLTV’s simulator.
