The Brazilian competitive gaming entity, paiN Gaming, has announced the acquisition of Vinicius ‘vsm‘ Moreira and Guilherme ‘piriajr‘ Barbosa for its Counter-Strike 2 team.
Moreira previously competed for the Brazilian squad of Keyd Stars, whereas Barbosa has been brought in temporarily from Bounty Hunters Esports.
The organization attributed this squad alteration to insufficient stable performance across the 2025 season, a shift that commenced when David ‘dav1deuS’ Tapia and Franco ‘dgt’ Garcia were moved to the inactive roster after placing 14th at the StarLadder Budapest Major.
Following a strong top-four placement at the BLAST.tv Austin Major, paiN Gaming was expected to build on this momentum in the latter half of 2025. Nevertheless, the team did not leverage this robust performance, experiencing premature elimination from both IEM Cologne 2025 and the CS Asia Championships.
“For 2026, our objective remains to establish paiN as the definitive standard for Brazilian Counter-Strike,” the entity declared via its social media channels.
“Moreira joins us with considerable experience, competitive sophistication, and an inherent untapped potential. Barbosa, on the other hand, embodies the emerging talent, having shone brightly in the national circuit throughout 2025. He now gets the chance to distinguish himself on the global stage.”
PaiN Gaming is among numerous organizations that have made changes to their CS2 lineups during the break. As of January 2nd, 2026, another Brazilian entity, MIBR, concluded its association with Aleksei ‘Qikert’ Golubev, finalizing his three-month temporary tenure.
The Road Ahead for PaiN Gaming
The reimagined paiN Gaming lineup is scheduled to make its inaugural appearance at BLAST Bounty Season 1, which commences on January 13th with its online closed qualification stage. From the 32 participating teams, eight will advance to the offline finals in Malta, where they will contend for significant VRS points and the largest portion of the prize pool.
Both Moreira and Barbosa wrapped up 2025 with commendable showings in local competitions. With their upcoming participation in Tier 1 events, paiN Gaming might reignite the impressive form displayed unexpectedly in Austin, thereby reclaiming its position as a dominant force in South American esports.
This article concerning PaiN Gaming’s addition of vsm and piriajr to its CS2 roster was originally published on Esports Insider.
