From newly-uncovered heroes to big names heading home early.
The Perfect World Shanghai Major Opening Stage has come to a close. We've whittled down the CS2 major attendees from 24 to 16 as the action heats up in China.
We've already seen the rise of future stars, a few miracle runs by crazy underdogs, and some big names make early exits. We're covering it all with the first of three editions of "The Good, Bad, and the Ugly" at the Shanghai Major.
The Good: Brazilian CS back on the menu
We've witnessed the likes of paiN and MIBR come close to big results all year. None could have predicted they'd join FURIA in the Elimination Stage in Shanghai. In doing so, Brazil will have three teams at the top 16 stage of a major for the second time in CS2 and CS:GO.
PaiN and MIBR have traded blows domestically for the bulk of 2024, with the former emerging victorious more often than not. However, neither had remained consistent at LAN. MIBR had a semifinal spot at ESL Pro League Season 20 but fell short at ESL Challenger Katowice against opponents they'd need to beat to prove themselves worthy of attention pre-Shanghai.
Likewise for paiN. After the squad was picked apart in 2023, Rodrigo "biguzera" Bittencourt was left to rebuild with the scraps. The result was a slow start to 2024, with shock losses at a local level.
After the Brazilian contingent were decimated at IEM Rio (apart from FURIA), few believed the South American squads had the moxie to make it past the Opening Stage in Shanghai. But against the odds, paiN and MIBR overcame the likes of Cloud9, FlyQuest, and Virtus.pro to stamp their authority.
Above all has been the unveiling of paiN's Kaue "kauez" Kaschuk and the steady rise of MIBR's Felipe "insani" Yuji. Both players sit among the best players in the Opening Stage and their impact alone may be enough to see the Brazilian squads through the Elimination Stage too. That's assuming they don't run into each other on the way!
The Bad: CIS CS dissolves into Team Spirit
Overlooking BR CS is forgivable — just as it was expecting CIS CS to qualify with ease. Sure, expectations for Cloud9 or Virtus.pro may have been low in Shanghai, but missing the top 16 altogether? The talent on these rosters was simply too good, no?
No, not at all. Both big orgs will be absent in Shanghai for the remainder of the major after their disappointing Opening Stage campaigns. C9 managed a single Bo1 win over a 0-3 team (who we'll be getting to in a moment), while VP were unceremoniously dumped by American minnows Wildcard — a team they were heavily favored to beat with ease.
The losses cap off a year to forget for the CIS giants. C9 have some excuse given this was their fourth month into a rebuild after losing Perfecto, HObbit, and electronic. Even then, the level of CS the squad has shown has been dismal.
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Their failure to qualify online for big events is notable; since the rebuild, C9 has played three offline events at BLAST Fall Groups and the RMR/Opening Stage at Shanghai. They were decent enough in the major qualifier, but were otherwise blown off the server when the going got tough.
VP has no such excuse. The addition of electronic — considered one of the biggest roster moves of 2024 — backfired spectacularly as the year went on. With plenty of experience and talent, the best VP could muster was a top-four finish at EWC.
Otherwise, it was early playoff exits or group-stage tumbles for the Russian squad. They scraped through over Sashi in the RMR but their wins came over teams that didn't qualify for the top 24. Then the Opening Stage itself, with Fame the only player showing any sign of life in their 1-3 run.
Why stop at C9 and VP? BetBoom, Nemiga, Aurora, PARIVISION, 9Pandas — all CIS squads falling well short of the lofty expectations we have for the region following its rise through CS:GO and CS2 this past few years.
At least Team Spirit and Passion UA will give fans someone to cheer for. The CIS shuffle post-Shanghai will be legendary.
The Ugly: Fnatic
Oh, Fnatic. Where to begin with Fnatic.
Like C9 and VP, expectations for Fnatic in Shanghai weren't that high. A possible chance to make the next stage, maybe, but likely a 1-3 or 2-3 exit. What we got was nothing short of embarrassing.
The blameF-led squad was dumped out of Shanghai 0-3 with losses to Wildcard, C9, and Rare Atom. It's that last one that stings the most: Rare Atom was considered the weakest team heading into the event. While there's always a chance the hometown heroes could snag a win, it surely wouldn't be anything more than a single map.
But when Fnatic met Rare Atom in the best-of-three eliminator, we saw a shadow of an organization that should be eating these matches for breakfast. Fnatic looked confused and disconnected in the series; they squeaked out a 13-10 opener before Rare Atom responded in kind, sending the crowd into raptures.
Map three was a different story altogether as RA came out and decimated Fnatic. A 13-4 finish on Vertigo sent the European squad packing as the largely-Chinese crowd chanted "send them home!"
The loss ends a truly awful 2024 for Fnatic. This once historic organization has undoubtedly had its legacy tainted with this edition of the team unfit for competition even at a tier-two level.
The Shanghai Major continues later this week with the Elimination Stage kicking off December 5. Stay tuned to esports.gg for more CS2 news and coverage!
