paiN Gaming earned a 2-1 victory over MIBR on Wednesday to advance to the semifinals of the BLAST Premier: Spring American Showdown 2023.

After opening with a 16-9 win on Anubis, paiN Gaming dropped a 22-18 decision on Nuke before taking the decisive third map, Vertigo, 16-10.

In a match that featured a pair of all-Brazilian squads, Romeu “zevy” Rocco led paiN with a match-high 77 kills and a plus-23 kills-deaths differential, while Rodrigo “biguzera” Bittencourt added 71 kills. Raphael “exit” Lacerda posted 68 kills and was the only player to post a positive K-D ratio for MIBR.

paiN Gaming will face the winner of Thursday’s quarterfinals match between Team Liquid and Nouns Esports in the semifinals on Saturday.

The $67,500 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament began Wednesday and features eight teams competing in a single-elimination bracket. All matches are best-of-three, including Sunday’s grand final.

The winner of the BLAST Premier: Spring American Showdown 2023 will win $20,000, 1,000 BLAST Premier points and will qualify for the Spring Final, which will be held June 7-11 in Washington, D.C.

BLAST Premier: Spring American Showdown 2023 prize pool:
1. $20,000, qualification to Spring Final, 1,000 BLAST points — TBD
2. $12,500, 600 BLAST points — TBD
3-4. $7,500, 375 BLAST points — TBD
5-8. $5,000, 112.5 BLAST points — TBD, TBD, TBD, MIBR

–Field Level Media