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May 12, 2026 | Anders Frost

paiN Gaming force Faze into lower bracket at IEM Atlanta opening day

The opening round of IEM Atlanta 2026 commenced yesterday, bringing immediate consequences for several major contenders in the $1,000,000 tournament. Brazilian squad paiN Gaming delivered a commanding 2-0 series victory over FaZe Clan, sending the European heavyweights to the lower bracket on day one.

The series highlighted a structured approach from paiN Gaming. On the first map, Dust2, the Brazilian roster broke through the FaZe Clan defense to secure a 13-6 win. The momentum carried into Anubis, where a strong offensive half allowed paiN Gaming to close the series 13-8. João ‘snow’ Vinicius and Guilherme ‘piriajr’ Barbosa led the statistical charts for the winning side, entirely suppressing the output of FaZe Clan stars Helvijs “broky” Saukants and David “frozen” Čerňanský.

In another key matchup from Group A, Turkish organization FUT Esports defeated North American representatives NRG 2-0. NRG forced the first map, Ancient, into overtime, but FUT Esports held their composure to secure a 16-13 win. The Turkish team then claimed a comfortable 13-9 victory on Overpass. Aulon “Krabeni” Fazlija anchored the server for FUT Esports with 45 eliminations and a 1.25 series rating.

Vitality continues

Team Vitality began their campaign for a sixth consecutive tournament win by sweeping BC.Game 2-0. Natus Vincere matched that pace in Group B, dispatching Passion UA in a clean two-map series. Astralis and Legacy also advanced to the upper bracket semi-finals after securing solid wins against Team Liquid and M80, respectively.

The tournament continues today with upper bracket semi-finals and lower bracket elimination matches. Natus Vincere will face GamerLegion, while FaZe Clan must fight for tournament survival against their upcoming lower bracket opponents.

Round 1 match results

Winning teamScoreLosing team
paiN Gaming2-0FaZe Clan
FUT Esports2-0NRG
Team Vitality2-0BC.Game
Astralis2-0Team Liquid
Natus Vincere2-0Passion UA
GamerLegion2-1SINNERS
Legacy2-0M80
B81-2BetBoom Team

Today’s fixtures

MatchupType
paiN Gaming vs FUT EsportsGroup A upper bracket semi-final
Team Vitality vs BetBoomGroup A upper bracket semi-final
Natus Vincere vs GamerLegionGroup B upper bracket semi-final
Astralis vs LegacyGroup B upper bracket semi-final
FaZe Clan vs NRGGroup A lower bracket round 1
BC.Game vs B8Group A lower bracket round 1
Passion UA vs SINNERSGroup B lower bracket round 1
Team Liquid vs M80Group B lower bracket round 1
Author

Anders Frost

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A lifelong gamer with 21 years on Steam, first introduced to Counter-Strike in 1.6 but truly hooked by CS:GO. Loves the idea of playing AWP - just not quite skilled enough to pull it off. Outside the server, a journalist with 14 years of experience covering both traditional sports and esports.

Read more about me