paiN Gaming has confirmed a change at the top of its League of Legends coaching staff for the 2026 season: Gabriel "Von" Barbosa takes over as head coach, while Matheus "Sarkis" Guimarães remains with the team as assistant coach.
The move brings an end to more than six years of collaboration with South Korean Sin "Xero" Hyeok, who had been the organisation's head coach since 2020. paiN acknowledges that a change of this kind mid-Split is neither common nor easy, but insists the decision was not made suddenly or based solely on recent results. It follows an evaluation that has been underway for some time, covering the team's performance over the past few years, its working methods, and the leadership profile the organisation is looking for going forward.
On the competitive side, the numbers tell their own story: paiN finished the 2026 Split 1 in 7th place out of 8 in the CBLOL, and have picked up just one win in their last four series of Split 2.
In its statement, paiN highlights Xero's central role in building the competitive identity that gave the team consistency, solidity and meaningful results over the years, while explaining that the two parties' views on methodology, philosophy and competitive mindset had gradually started to diverge. The organisation closes the cycle by warmly thanking its former coach for the years spent by its side, in good times and bad.
