snow on Cache: “I’ve never played on it in my life. It’s a new map for me.”
paiN Gaming rifler João “snow” Vinícius, in an interview at the 2026 Esports World Cup for CS2, commented on the loss to 9z Team and discussed the team’s adaptation to Cache.
On the loss to 9z Team
The match against 9z Team was very tough. That’s because we didn’t expect to play them on Cache. They hadn’t played on that map before. And yes, it was a very difficult map for us. I think the game didn’t go very well. And yes, I played really poorly in that game. But that’s life, and I need to deal with it.
On adapting to Cache
It was really hard for me to start playing on Cache. Because I’d never played on it before in my life. It’s a new map for me. Everything was new. I didn’t know the meta on this map. I didn’t know the map layout and had to learn everything from scratch. I’m trying to get better and improve on this map. I’m taking my first steps on this map. And I’m trying to better understand how to play it.
On paiN Gaming’s struggles on Cache
I think the problems are mainly on the attack side. We need to work more on our attack side. Because we’ve had some issues there. We need to play a little more on this map. We’ll face more situations that we can handle on this map. I think we can be really good on Cache.
Earlier, paiN Gaming lost to The MongolZ 0–2 in the main stage of the 2026 Esports World Cup for Counter-Strike 2. As a result, João “snow” Vinícius’s team finished the tournament in 17th–24th place and received $20,000 in prize money.
