HEROIC and NIP Advance to Upper Final as paiN Faces Early Exit

The second day of the Stake Ranked Episode 3 saw HEROIC narrowly defeat Phantom, setting the stage for an upper bracket final against Ninjas in Pyjamas (NIP), who had an easier path after defeating Gentle Mates in a two-map series.

HEROIC's new roster showcased resilience, claiming close victories on Ancient and Dust2, while suffering a loss in overtime on Nuke. Their performance was enough to keep them in the upper bracket of the tournament.

In contrast, paiN, the highest-ranked team present at the event, faced elimination after a disappointing run. Following an initial loss to Phantom, the Brazilian squad was ousted by 3DMAX in the lower bracket, compounding their recent struggles after a defeat to Sharks in the BLAST Open Porto South America qualifier.

3DMAX's success was largely attributed to Jeremy "Kursy" Gast, who transitioned from AWPer to rifler, achieving an impressive 1.94 rating to lead his team to victory.

Wildcard, champions of the BC Game Masters Championship Season 2, also exited the tournament early, suffering back-to-back losses to Gentle Mates and K27, failing to replicate their earlier form from two months ago.