paiN vs Virtus Pro: The Bears will do well with a new lineup

The eSports festivities continue, and following The International 10, the CS:GO Major will take place in Stockholm. The best teams in the world will once again meet to find out who is worthy of the title of the best team in the world and the prize fund of $2 million. Of course, after TI, the sum doesn’t look that grand, but trust us: there will be no less exciting, no more highlights, and no less excitement. PGL Major Stockholm 2021 will take place from October 26 to November 7 in Sweden.

Brazilian team paiN Gaming will be the first opponent for Virtus.pro in the Challengers Stage of the PGL Major Stockholm 2021 on CS:GO.

The 35th ranked team in the world finished fourth at IEM Fall 2021 North America, thereby qualifying for the PGL Major Stockholm 2021. Had the Brazilians beaten Liquid then, they would have gone straight into the next stage. The players flew to Europe more than a week ago and played a match against OG, where they lost 0-2. These guys are obvious dark horses who don’t show results anywhere and have been playing on equal terms with weak teams from North America for the last year. I don’t think their game will change much in 2 weeks. The guys have been without playing practice against strong teams for a long time, and in terms of the pop pool, the guys are not as ideal as we would like them to be. The only strong maps are Nuke, Ancient, and possibly Dust II. Virtus Pro is likely to be banned right away on the first two maps, while Dust II will be better for the Bears, just like almost any other map! I don’t deny the factor that paiN might shoot, but something is very unlikely...

Many of you already know that Virtus Pro has undergone changes that nobody expected (at least now). A few days before the PGL Major Stockholm SANJI has left the team and was replaced by the ex-forZe player FL1T. Although rumours about SANJI have been circulating for a long time, everyone expected that he would leave the team only after the Majors in Sweden, but it was completely different.

Virtus Pro had no time to prepare. They did not train with Evgeniy at all. Now, being in Sweden in the practice room, the guys have 3-4 days to work out at least some groundwork for the start of the tournament. Evgeniy FL1T Lebedev’s joining the team will add an incredible amount of firepower. So I think that it will not be too difficult for them to get to the next stage of the tournament, even considering that they have had little time to prepare in such a lineup. The team’s gameplay is likely to change now. After all, FL1T & SANJI are playing very different roles. It will all go for the better, and the VP game will reach a completely different level. Just imagine how killer a combination of YEKINDAR + FL1T could become! I’m sure the new blood factor will play positively.

Let’s go over the maps a bit. As I said earlier, VPs will banish Ancient and Nuke with 99% probability. Brazilians, on the other hand, should remove Mirage, Overpass. Dust II, Inferno or Vertigo. I think that paiN will also remove Inferno, and the Bears will decide between Dust II and Vertigo, where they have a significant advantage over their opponent.

The Brazilians will have nothing to do but play a map that will be comfortable for Virtus Pro. I want to add that although Virtus Pro has not yet had time to play with this lineup, they should win this match without too many problems.

The arrival of such a player as FL1T in Virtus Pro will strengthen the team’s game. The guys from the CIS should cope with the Brazilians without too many problems. The bookmakers are offering odds of 2.00 on Virtus Pro’s win with a handicap (-4.5). Also, I suggest taking a risk and taking Total Over 25.5 rounds for 1.67.