Yekindar: Post-EWC Anger Fueled FURIA Sweep of paiN

FURIA defeated paiN in straight maps at BLAST Open Porto, following a fourth-place finish at the Esports World Cup three days earlier. The Brazilian team won Mirage 13-2 and finished the match on Cache to complete the series sweep.

On Mirage, FURIA built an early lead and closed the first half 10-2 before finishing 13-2. paiN were unable to string rounds together on their map pick, missed coordinated timings on several attempts and were repeatedly pressured by FURIA’s executes and rotations.

Cache saw YEKINDAR take in-game leadership duties. He recorded an 18-7 kill-death line by halftime, a +15.68% round swing and a 163.7 average damage per round at the break. FURIA extended their control in the second half and closed the map to secure the series.

Individual match stats reflected FURIA’s dominance. YEKINDAR finished 34-21 with a 1.64 match rating. Danil “molodoy” Golubenko posted 30-16 and a 1.38 rating, Yuri “yuurih” Santos went 26-20 with a 1.30 rating, Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato ended 24-18 at 1.23, and Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo recorded 23-16 and a 1.15 rating. For paiN, Guilherme “piriajr” Barbosa led with a 27-27 line and a 1.11 rating; João “snow” Vinicius finished 22-28 with a 0.88 rating while other teammates posted sub-1.0 ratings.

FURIA began BLAST Open Porto three days after losses to FUT and Legacy at the Esports World Cup. YEKINDAR told the analyst desk that the team’s anger after Paris converted into motivation in Porto, recalling an earlier interview in which an interviewer asked whether that anger would be helpful. “We will see after this event,” he said, and added that the frustration had a positive effect on the team’s performance.

Asked about calling on Cache after seeming hesitant at the Esports World Cup, YEKINDAR said he would like to become a full-time in-game leader later in his career but prefers to remain a role player while he feels at his peak in decision-making.

The result was FURIA’s first straight-set victory since a 2-0 win over Aurora in the Cologne Major semi-finals and their first win on Cache in this event run. paiN will continue in the BLAST Open Porto event following the loss.