paiN eliminate NIP to make BLAST Bounty S2 Finals

<p>paiN Gaming eliminated Ninjas in Pyjamas from BLAST Bounty Season 2 on July 26 with a decisive series win, qualifying for the eight-team Malta LAN Finals. The result adds another Brazilian side to the qualified pool alongside Spirit's fellow South American 9z.</p><h3>The elimination</h3><p>The series against NIP represents paiN's biggest Stage 2 win of the tournament. NIP had a mixed Bounty S2 online-stage run, and paiN's more consistent aim duels and stable IGL calling proved the decisive factors across the match.</p><h3>Brazilian trajectory</h3><p>paiN's qualification adds to a Brazilian summer that's included 9z's XSE Pro League title, Legacy's roster reunion around try, DENDELE's rebrand and upset run at Bounty S2, and continued FURIA presence in the top 10. The Brazilian scene is arguably at its peak collective strength since the pre-Fnatic-Astralis era.</p><h3>What Malta means for paiN</h3><p>For paiN, the Malta Finals represents both a competitive opportunity and a business one. Deep tournament runs at $1.15 million prize pool events directly help fund the org's roster investments and academy pipeline. paiN will look to translate the qualification into meaningful playoff progression.</p><h3>Malta Finals field</h3><p>The eight teams heading to Malta are: FaZe, Spirit, Liquid, Astralis, MOUZ, paiN, 3DMAX, and The MongolZ. Notably, only Spirit (No. 4) is inside the world top 10 — a statistical oddity for a tournament of this size. That makes paiN's path to a deep run less daunting than a normal top-8 seeded event.</p><h3>What's next</h3><p>The Malta LAN Finals run July 30 to August 2 as a single-elimination bracket. paiN's first-round matchup will be determined by seeding, but the org enters as a legitimate deep-run candidate.</p>

Sources

• https://www.hltv.org/news/archive/2026/july...
• https://www.hltv.org/news/45190/blast-bounty-2026-season-2-finals-team-list-comp...