Parker benched by paiN Gaming after two matches at DreamLeague Season 28

After acquiring the Peru Rejects roster just a few weeks ago, paiN Gaming is already making changes just two days into the team’s first big event of the Dota 2026 calendar. Carry player David “Parker” Nicho Flores has been subbed out of the team after playing in only two matches at DreamLeague Season 28. The organization is yet to make an official statement, but speculations suggest Parker has either left the team or has been benched. 

Parker Moved to Inactive After Two Matches

Coming into DreamLeague Season 28, paiN Gaming was one of the lower-ranked teams in the competition, so expectations were never particularly high to begin with. The Peruvian squad opened their campaign with two Bo2 matches against Aurora and PARIVISION, losing both matches in 0-2 fashion. But alarm bells shouldn’t be ringing just yet, Aurora and PARIVISION are both highly rated opponents and I don’t think anyone really expected paiN to come out on top here. The former is currently riding a 20-plus match win streak, while the latter has been a consistent Tier 1 team for years. 

However, it appears that two losses were already enough for Parker, who has a long-standing reputation for being someone who can be quite difficult to work with. According to BetBoom Esports, paiN Gaming has registered a substitute in his place.

We’ve seen this troublemaker pull off some pretty wild stuff in the past, but leaving or getting benched by a newly signed team after just two matches still amazes the Dota community, even by his standards. It’s still very early in the group stage, with plenty of Dota left to be played so this decision feels a bit premature but with no further details on why the change happened so quickly, it’s difficult to fathom where this came from.

paiN Gaming’s Return to Dota 2 Gets Off to a Rough Start

The last time paiN Gaming competed in Dota 2 was back in 2020, meaning the organization has been out of the scene for six years before signing the Peru Rejects roster only two weeks ago. The squad earned its place at DreamLeague Season 28 after defeating HEROIC in the regional qualifiers, making this signing a promising one on paper.

paiN Gaming is a well-established organization that fields a competitive Counter-Strike 2 roster. This return to Dota 2 also likely came with at least some levels of commitment, like formal contracts and player salaries.

Coming back to the scene and then having immediate roster issues, just days into their first big event, is about as rough a start as it gets. It’s really hard not to feel for paiN’s management. 

Smiling Knight Steps In

The Brazilian organization announced that Aliaksei “Smiling Knight” Svirydau will replace Parker at DreamLeague Season 28 with immediate effect, as the team still has an entire tournament to play out.

Smiling Knight most recently competed for AVULUS, and previously played for Thunder Awaken, another Peru-based lineup. This could have made him a natural emergency option given the circumstances and short notice. 

As the sole South American representatives at DreamLeague Season 28, the pressure is on paiN Gaming to represent the region well. HEROIC, after losing to paiN in the qualifiers, have looked far more convincing in recent events after picking up 16-year-old prodigy Santiago “TaiLung” Agüero Gustavo.

With their regional rivals setting a higher bar internationally, paiN will need to step up quickly if they want to keep their pace in the South American hierarchy.