Dota 2
CS2
paiN Gaming has announced it is pulling out of the Dota 2 competitive scene, parting ways with its roster just a couple of months after making a return to the game.
The Brazilian organisation returned to Dota 2 only in early February 2026, signing the Peru Rejects roster, a Peruvian lineup that had earned its place at DreamLeague Season 28 by defeating HEROIC in the regional qualifiers. The move was celebrated as a meaningful comeback after a six-year absence from the scene, paiN having last fielded a competitive Dota 2 squad in 2020.
However, that celebration was short-lived.
paiN Gaming's relationship with Dota 2 has always been cyclical. The organisation was one of the founding pillars of competitive Dota in South America, fielding rosters as far back as the game's earliest days in 2011. But exits have become almost as much a part of paiN's Dota identity as the runs themselves. The organisation left the scene in 2016, returned, and most recently departed in 2020 before this latest comeback attempt.
A history of controversies
The squad's stint under the paiN Gaming tag was turbulent from the first week. At DreamLeague Season 28 in mid-February, David "Parker" Nicho Flores was moved to inactivity after just two series, both of which ended in 0-2 defeats against Aurora and PARIVISION. Coach Vintage attributed the removal to an "unresolvable attitude problem," while stressing Parker had been benched rather than permanently removed from the team.
Aliaksei "Smiling Knight" Svirydau stood-in for the remainder of the event. Shortly after, Wits replaced Parker permanently on the roster.
paiN then participated in ESL One Birmingham 2026, where their results were modest at best, going 1-1 across several series in the group stage, but falling to higher-ranked opponents, including Team Spirit and Aurora.
Additionally, the organisation has just recently gone through a major scandal involving its League of Legends player, Alexandre "TitaN" Lima.
TitaN is accused of non-consensual distribution of intimate material, sexual harassment, and sexual misconduct involving a 16-year-old minor by his former partner Gabriela "Gabzuski" Zambrozuski, and four other women. The Civil Police of the State of São Paulo opened a formal criminal investigation covering charges of dissemination of intimate content, rape of a vulnerable person, and sexual harassment.
paiN Gaming suspended TitaN on January 12, but investigative reporting revealed that the player had quietly returned to training with the squad despite the announced suspension, a contradiction that ignited widespread outrage. Reports further alleged that organisation leadership held meetings with the heads of paiN's supporter groups in an apparent attempt to strategically manage the fallout and downplay the severity of the accusations.
On March 12, paiN Gaming CEO Thomas Hamence, who had led the organisation since 2018, officially stepped down. The paiN framed the resignation as a mutual decision between Hamence and the Board of Directors, and described it as "the first step of a new era."
Ex-paiN Gaming roster carries on
While the organisation steps away from Dota once again, the players themselves will stick together. Team coach Vincenzo "Vintage" Naso confirmed the roster will continue competing under the South America Rejects tag and has every intention to honour the invite to the upcoming PGL Wallachia Season 8 and also fight for a spot at DreamLeague Season 29, as well.