PaiN has secured its first win of the ESL Pro League Season 23 Stage 2, beating FaZe with a 2-1 scoreline. Following a crushing defeat on the opening day, the Brazilian side has recovered and now will need two more rounds to book a playoff berth.
VETO
- paiN removed Ancient
- FaZe removed Inferno
- paiN picked Nuke
- FaZe picked Dust2
- paiN removed Overpass
- FaZe removed Anubis
- Mirage was left over
Map 1: Nuke; Pick: paiN; Winner: paiN
FaZe started the defense with a clean pistol conversion, putting them on the winning path before paiN converted the first gun round to hit the board. The poorly organised defense got easily picked apart round after round as paiN systematically pulled in 8 rounds, as FaZe only managed two more to close the half with only 4 rounds. Following a poor defensive display, FaZe found their footing on offense, managing to level the score and build on it to take the game to OT. Starting OT on their offense, FaZe failed to secure a single round as paiN switched to their defense with a perfect half. paiN’s perfect half gave them the much-needed buffer as they closed the game after losing one round on their offense in OT to win the game with a 16-13 scoreline. Topping the charts with 25 kills, frozeN’s efforts went in vain against a more organised paiN side.
Map 2: Dust2; Pick: FaZe ; Winner: FaZe
Following a close defeat, FaZe secured 4 rounds to start their T-side on Dust2 before paiN could hit the scoreboard. 8 rounds in a row from paiN, not only gave the Brazilians the lead, but they went on to secure a 4-round lead before switching sides. paiN extended their lead by winning the pistol before FaZe converted the first gun round of the half, as they started mounting a lead. Winning 3 back-to-back rounds, paiN hit the board once again by converting a round in the A site. FaZe regained control in the following round before a quick mid to B split on their eco gave paiN the much-needed 12th round, only for FaZe to convert back-to-back rounds to take us to OT for the second time in this series. Losing the first but winning all the remaining rounds, FaZe dominated overtime this time around to take us to a 3rd map. Broky on the AWP delivered the much-needed push that FaZe would have wanted for them to secure the deciding map.
Map 3: Mirage; Pick: Decider; Winner: paiN
6-0 start for paiN after a difficult loss on Map 2, put them on winning ways as FaZe’s offense crumbled right from the get-go. Putting together a streak of 3 rounds in from the 7th round saw their side cut down on the lead before closing out the half with a 9-3 lead. Both teams trading blows to start the second half saw FaZe fall further behind before paiN converted all their full-buy rounds by the end of the map to take home a convincing win over an out-of-favor FaZe Clan. Nqz shining on the AWP with 23 kills stopped FaZe from getting started in the map, let alone challenge paiN as they now find themselves closer to elimination than qualification.
The safety cushion is all over for FaZe as the next loss will see them head home having already suffered from two unexpected defeats. With the names under their banner, one would assume that FaZe would roll over the likes of paiN, but the roster is on the verge of breaking, and karrigan still seems to be searching for a solution.
