Rafael “saffee” Costa is set to leave paiN Gaming to join FURIA Esports’ Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squad for 2022, according to 1pv.fr.
saffee reportedly would replace Vinicius “VINI” Figueiredo on the FURIA roster.
News first broke late last month that the FURIA was targeting saffee as a new addition after coach Nicholas “guerri” Nogueira acknowledged that VINI was on his way out.
saffee, a 27-year-old Brazilian, has been with paiN since July 2020. He previously played for the New England Whalers and Paqueta Esports Gaming.
VINI, a 22-year-old Brazilian, first joined FURIA in 2017.
FURIA won the Elisa Invitational Summer in July and then won the Intel Extreme Masters XVI – Fall: North America in October. Both were A-Tier (second-level) events. The team did no better than a tie for fifth in its eight S-Tier (top-level) events.
paiN didn’t crack the top 12 in two S-Tier events in 2021. The team came in second in the A-Tier DreamHack Open March 2021: North America in March.
–Field Level Media