paiN upset Liquid!

Liquid and paiN went head-to-head in the last match of the day at BLAST. The Brazilians ended up outlasting the North Americans after a long and hard-fought battle.

“hardzao” got his team off to a great start on their pick of Vertigo. They went up 4-0 on the T-side and were now in a great position. Liquid had a great run in the middle of the half led by a flourishing “NAF”, but after fifteen rounds it was the Brazilians who had the lead at 9-6.
The second half did not bring more fortune for the North Americans who only managed to secure three rounds after the break. paiN, who played an all-around solid team game, took Vertigo 16-9.

Even with the big loss on Vertigo, Liquid had not lost confidence, and they looked reinvigorated as they arrived on their pick of Ancient.
On the hardest T-side in the map pool, Liquid, spearheaded by a soaring “oSee”, managed to take nine satisfying rounds before the break, leaving the Brazilians to play catch-up.
paiN, taking a page out of Liquid’s book, got off to a great start on the T-side and quickly secured their first lead of the map. But just as quickly as they found the advantage, they lost it again, and the North Americans secured their map pick and sent the match to a decider.

Overpass was selected as the final map of the series and paiN started it out with some of the magic they showed on Vertigo. After losing the pistol round, they forced their way to a 5-1 lead on the T-side. This is where the fun stopped for the Brazilians as they got run over in the last part of the half, and Liquid were up by three rounds at halftime.
After switching sides, Liquid quickly grew their lead to 12-6, and for the first time in the series “nitr0” and co. had a lead of more than five rounds. paiN, knowing that this is do-or-die, suddenly came alive and, led by “biguzera”, forced their way back into the game. The Brazilians hit match point but a quad-kill from “nitr0” sent the map into overtime.
paiN swept the CT-side and after failing to convert on two map points they finally managed to win on the third and are thereby moving on to the semi-finals.

Highlight of the Bo3-series:

Liquid - paiN 1-2 | BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2022 NA

9-16 (Vertigo) | NAF - 1.52 Rating / 28-17 K-D / 118.8 ADR

16-13 (Ancient) | oSee - 1.43 Rating / 28-19 K-D / 91.8 ADR

17-19 (Overpass) | biguzera - 1.59 Rating / 39-23 K-D / 109.4 ADR

MVP: Rodrigo "biguzera" Bittencourt - 1.35 Rating / 77-59 K-D / 89.7 ADR