There may be another roster change for paiN. According to Dust2.com.br, the organization plans to move 23-year-old Guilherme “piriajr” Barbosa to the bench. His spot on the main roster is set to be temporarily filled by academy player Lucas “Tatu” Santana.
This would mark paiN’s second roster change in the past few weeks. Earlier, the team parted ways with Vinícius “vsm” Moreira, who was also replaced by an academy player—Rickson “Rkzinho” Ribeiro Dias.
The roster changes came after a disappointing start to the season for paiN. The team finished last at the BLAST Open Porto and Stake Ranked Episode 3, and failed to advance past the early stages at the Esports World Cup.
Following their performance at the BLAST Open Porto, paiN captain Rodrigo “biguzera” Bittencourt spoke candidly about issues within the team. According to him, the players had lost trust in one another, which directly affected their results.
For piriajr, a potential move to the bench would mark the end of a nine-month stint on paiN’s starting roster. The player joined the team in January, transferring from Bounty Hunters. Recently, he has shown strong results—his rating with his former team reached 1.32. However, he has not been able to replicate that performance with paiN: piriajr’s average rating during his time with the team was 1.03.
Tatu, a likely newcomer to the starting lineup, has spent the last two years in the paiN academy. The 22-year-old player is one of the most experienced members of the youth roster and has posted an average rating of 1.07 this year.
It is not yet known whether Tatu will become a full-fledged replacement for piriajr or whether he will play for the main roster only in upcoming tournaments. There has been no official announcement from paiN regarding the upcoming changes.