Wildcard dispatches paiN to guarantee BLAST Rivals Spring playoff spot
After a predictable loss to Vitality to start their run at BLAST Rivals Spring, Wildcard has responded with a comfortable victory against paiN, locking in a spot in playoffs.
In the Elimination Match of Group A, Wildcard faced paiN with brutal stakes: win and secure a spot in playoffs, or lose and go home early.
Wildcard started strong on their pick of Inferno, jumping out to a quick 7-1 lead on the T-side. paiN fought their way back into the map, but Aran "Sonic" Groesbeek was the difference maker in both halves, paving the way to a 13-10 win for Wildcard.
Inferno hinted at what could have been a competitive series, but fans instead watched Wildcard absolutely dominate on T-side Anubis 12-0, as Love "phzy" Smidebrant and company ran over paiN. For the sake of their pride, paiN thankfully won their pistol round on T-side to avoid the 13-0, but only managed to string together a few rounds before Wildcard took the map 13-5.
paiNWildcard| paiN |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 João 'snow' Vinicius |
34 - 30 | +4 | 103.7 | 80.5% | 1.19 |
| Rodrigo 'biguzera' Bittencourt |
20 - 27 | -7 | 68.1 | 65.9% | 0.95 |
 Franco 'dgt' Garcia |
28 - 30 | -2 | 67.9 | 65.9% | 0.91 |
| Lucas 'nqz' Soares |
28 - 27 | +1 | 63.4 | 68.3% | 0.86 |
 David 'dav1deuS' Tapia Maldonado |
22 - 34 | -12 | 60.7 | 75.6% | 0.78 |
| Wildcard |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Aran 'Sonic' Groesbeek |
38 - 22 | +16 | 93.2 | 73.2% | 1.78 |
 Love 'phzy' Smidebrant |
38 - 25 | +13 | 81.6 | 78.0% | 1.32 |
 Josh 'JBa' Barutt |
26 - 25 | +1 | 88.3 | 85.4% | 1.21 |
| Tim 'susp' Ångström |
29 - 29 | +0 | 84.5 | 75.6% | 1.05 |
 Peter 'stanislaw' Jarguz |
16 - 31 | -15 | 46.9 | 70.7% | 0.74 |
With the win, Wildcard guarantees a spot in playoffs, but it also guarantees another tough draw. As the third place team in Group A, Wildcard will face either Spirit or Falcons in the quarterfinals. And if they manage to somehow pull that upset off, they'll have to face Vitality again.
But if Wildcard wants to make noise at the BLAST.tv Austin Major, experience against top international rosters will go a long way.
Also read
