Pain Gaming crashed back to earth after a top-four finish in the BLAST Austin Major and Team Liquid is ready to take advantage of it in IEM Cologne.
| Match | IEM Cologne Play-In Stage |
|---|---|
| Kick-off | July 23, 2025 at 12 pm ET |
| Top pick | Over 2.5 maps |
| Best price | GG.BET live odds |
| Betting favorite | Team Liquid |
While the BLAST Austin Major was an event packed with surprises, the biggest of all was Pain Gaming cobbling together a top-four run. The Brazilian team was an underdog when it came to advancing out of multiple group stages, but managed to reach the semifinals. But things have gone awry for the team since then, so can you bet on them winning against Team Liquid?
Betting tip: Team Liquid’s in a bad state right now. That’s all that needs to be said.
My Team Liquid vs Pain Gaming pick: Over 2.5 maps (1.95 at GG.BET)
Fissure Playground panned out to be a very interesting tournament. Some teams that made a splash in the major, like BetBoom Team and Tyloo, proved that they’re legit with deep runs in the tournament. Others weren’t so lucky.
Pain Gaming was among that lot. On paper, after its run in Austin, the team should’ve been one of the favorites to win the tournament. Instead, it flopped in the group stage with a 1-2 record, losing to 3DMAX and Lynn Vision Gaming while beating Rare Atom. While Pain’s group stagerun in Austin was impressive, this paints less-than-flattering picture regarding the team’s potential for sticking around among the elite ranks.
That’s good news for Team Liquid. The North American squad had a disastrous Austin Major, turning a stage-three invitation into a 0-3 elimination.
Liquid vs. Sashi – ESL Pro League Season 22 Europe CQ
While it’s easy to question Pain Gaming, it can’t be understated how shaky Team Liquid’s roster is right now. The team returned to competition in the ESL Pro League Season 22 qualifiers. Though Keith “NAF” Markovic bounced back from his ugly Austin Major in an online qualifier match, the rest of the team stumbled en route to a catastrophic upset loss. The addition of Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek doesn’t look to like a good one at this point, and more changes will likely be needed to make Liquid a credible team.
Though Pain Gaming washing out of Fissure Playground quickly is a bad look, there’s no shame in losing to the likes of Lynn Vision Gaming and 3DMAX. There’s reason to be ashamed of how Liquid has been playing, though.
| Team Liquid | Pain Gaming |
|---|---|
| NAF | Biguzera (IGL) |
| Twistzz | nqz |
| ultimate | snow |
| NertZ | dav1deuS |
| siuhy (IGL) | dgt |
| Metric | Team Liquid | Pain Gaming | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pistol round win% | 50.7% | 50.9% | Pain Gaming |
| Top-rated player | Twistzz (1.10) | nqz (1.07) | Team Liquid |
| Map win-loss | 31-42 | 41-61 | Team Liquid |
Stats include all matches played by both teams in 2025 so far.
Despite both being “Americas” teams, Liquid and Pain haven’t played against each other all that much. In fact, the last time they played was in IEM Cologne 2024. Liquid won that match 2-0, though both teams have tweaked their rosters since then.
Team Liquid is entering this tournament on an ugly skid that most recently saw the team upset by the unheralded Sashi Esport in an online qualifier match.
Pain Gaming had a quick exit from Fissure Playground 1 after its run in the BLAST Austin Major.
| Market | Odds |
|---|---|
| Team Liquid to win | 1.82 |
| Pain Gaming to win | 1.97 |
| Over 2.5 maps | 1.95 |
Lines pulled from GG.BET at 8 pm MT on July 20, 2025.
WINNER TO PLAYOFFS! paiN Gaming vs 3DMAX | FISSURE PLAYGROUND 1 CS HIGHLIGHTS
Team Liquid being pegged as the favorite in the GG.BET live odds feel absurd to some degree. Pain losing early in Fissure Playground is likely a more accurate representation of the team’s strength than placing top-four at the major. But with Team Liquid losing to the likes of Sashi, which was playing with a substitute, it’s hard to encourage putting money on anything resembling a top-20 opponent.
Our pick: Pain Gaming as the match winner at 2-1 at 3.77 odds at GG.BET See all the Team Liquid vs Pain Gaming odds at GG.BET!
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