After taking down international mix ATK, paiN have won ESL Challenger League Season 41 North America in a 3-0 fashion (1-0 Default, 19-16 Dust2, 16-9 Inferno), earning themselves the $20,000 first place prize as well as a spot at the ESL Pro League Season 17 Conference.
They are the second team to secure a spot in the Season 17 Conference after Falcons won the European Challenger League on Sunday. Despite also earning a spot at the Season 16 Conference, paiN pulled out of the event due to it overlapping with the BLAST Premier Spring Finals, for which they had qualified through the North America Showdown.
paiN have another shot to make Pro League
paiN‘s run through Challenger League NA was for the most part without resistance. They only dropped a single series in the group stage to Gaimin Gladiators and only five maps total, all of which were also in the group stage, making their playoff run perfect.
ATK on the other hand didn’t have an easy route to the playoffs, going 4-3 during the group stage and losing series to all three Brazilian teams in the group. When it came to the playoffs, they took down BHOP followed by Gaimin Gladiators twice to reach the final.
In the final, ATK were unable to close out the first map of Dust2 despite reaching a 14-7 lead and then a 15-10 one, with the Brazilian lineup coming back to force overtime and secure victory. Inferno was far less close, with paiN racking up a massive 13-2 lead in the first half, making it easy to close out the victory in the end.
