tN1R jokes about “0.77 support” after Spirit sweep paiN at IEM Chengdu 2025

tN1R jokes about “0.77 support” after Spirit sweep paiN at IEM Chengdu 2025

Team Spirit rifler Andrey tN1R Tatarinovich reacted with self-irony to his first group-stage match at IEM Chengdu 2025. After Spirit’s confident victory over paiN Gaming, the Belarusian posted a short message on his personal Telegram channel, joking that his impact in the series could be summed up as “0.77 support,” a reference to his HLTV rating in the match. 

The post came right after Spirit opened their Group A run with a 2–0 win against the Brazilians: 13–7 on Ancient and 13–11 on Nuke. 

Match recap: Spirit cruise, tN1R struggles on the scoreboard

The Spirit–paiN clash was the last of the opening best-of-three series in Group A at IEM Chengdu 2025. The CIS side closed out both of its map picks without needing a decider, sending paiN to the lower bracket of the double-elimination group. 

According to HLTV’s match statistics, Spirit wrapped up Ancient 13–7 and Nuke 13–11, with Danil donk Kryshkovets, Dmitry sh1ro Sokolov and Ivan zweih Gogin all delivering high-impact performances. 

By contrast, tN1R's numbers were modest:

Overall stat line: 17–27 K-D across two maps

Average damage: just under 50 ADR

HLTV rating 3.0: 0.77

Those figures are exactly what he referenced in his tongue-in-cheek “0.77 support” message, widely picked up by Russian esports outlets after the match. 

Despite his low rating, Spirit never really lost control of the series. The win sends them to the upper-bracket semifinal of Group A, while paiN fall to the lower bracket, where they’ll fight to stay alive against TYLOO. 

Pre-match confidence: “They’re great guys, but we’re better”

The joke lands especially well when you remember what tN1R said before the match.

Just a few hours earlier, Spirit had posted a short “Story-style” video with him on the club’s Telegram channel. In it, he talked about the upcoming game versus paiN:

He regretted that the opener would be played without a live crowd in the arena, saying he had wanted to feel the atmosphere but would “leave that for the next match.”

With a smile, he said he hoped the series would end in two maps so he could go to bed earlier. 

Speaking about the Brazilian team, he called paiN “great guys” but added that Spirit are “better” and expected his team to win. 

In the end, everything went exactly to script: Spirit did win in two maps, and tN1R got his early night — at the cost of finishing as the lowest-rated player on his own team. Hence the self-deprecating “0.77 support” line that instantly turned into a small meme among CIS fans. 

Group A picture: Falcons next, paiN drop to the lower bracket

Spirit’s victory over paiN was one of four opening series in Group A:

The MongolZ vs Heroic – The MongolZ advanced in a tight 2–1. 

Astralis vs NAVI – Astralis edged out Natus Vincere to move on. 

Falcons vs TYLOO – Falcons swept TYLOO 2–0 and advanced to meet the winner of Spirit–paiN. 

paiN vs Spirit – Spirit won 2–0 and secured their place in the upper-bracket semifinal. 

That sets up a Spirit vs Team Falcons clash in the upper bracket, with a spot in the group final on the line. The match is scheduled for November 4 in the morning (Moscow time). 

paiN, meanwhile, drop to the lower bracket where they will play TYLOO in an elimination series. 

Tournament context: IEM Chengdu 2025

IEM Chengdu 2025 is one of the key CS2 LAN events on the calendar:

Location: Chengdu, China

Dates: November 3–9

Format: two GSL-style groups of eight teams (double-elimination), with three teams per group advancing to a single-elimination playoff bracket.

Prize pool: $1,000,000 total, including $300,000 earmarked as player prize money and an additional $700,000 in club revenue share. 

Teams: Spirit, paiN, Falcons, NAVI, Vitality, MOUZ, G2, Astralis, The MongolZ, FURIA, Heroic, Virtus.pro, Lynn Vision, TYLOO, 3DMAX and others. 

Pre-tournament previews consistently listed Spirit among the main title contenders thanks in large part to donk’s superstar form and the team’s strong showings earlier in 2025. 

The comfortable opening win over paiN, even with tN1R’s off night statistically, largely supports those expectations.

Who is tN1R? New face, high expectations

For fans who only started following Spirit after their 2024 breakthrough, tN1R is one of the newer names in the lineup.

Spirit officially signed him from Heroic in early September 2025, replacing Myroslav zont1x Plakhotia, who requested time off for personal reasons.

The change came despite Spirit’s impressive trophy haul with zont1x, including IEM Katowice 2024, BLAST Spring Final 2024 and the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024.

Prior to Heroic and Spirit, tN1R climbed the CIS ladder with teams like Websterz, forZe and GUN5, gradually building a reputation as a high-impact rifler.

In earlier interviews about his career, he’s talked about big-stage ambitions — for example, saying that playing in Cologne’s LANXESS Arena is one of his main goals because, in his words, it’s the iconic CS venue.

For now, though, tN1R seems comfortable laughing at himself when a match doesn’t go perfectly. The “0.77 support” line shows a player who understands that on a stacked roster like Spirit, not every series has to be about individual heroics — as long as the team keeps winning.