The first European RMR for the Shanghai Major is over and with one exception, every team that was supposed to qualify for the tournament did.
The only upset occurred in the case of Team Falcons, who unfortunately under-performed. No doubt, Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev and the rest of his roster will come back stronger in 2025. But for now, they need to admit to themselves that 2024 was almost a complete disaster.
The 3 W – 0 L Teams
By far the most impressive team in this RMR was Team Vitality, who not only finished with a perfect score but also won each match with ease.
The only opponent that managed to get close on a map was FaZe Clan. They lost Dust II 11 – 13 and then went on to qualify for the Shanghai Major with a 3 W – 1 L result.
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut did exactly what everyone expected and was the best player on the server in two of the three matches played by his team. Given Vitality’s results in 2024, he could still win the CS2 Player of the Year award if he delivers a great performance at the Major.
The other team that finished the qualifier with a perfect score was MOUZ. In the first two matches, they weren’t really tested because the teams they encountered, Nemiga Gaming and Sangal Esports, ended up getting eliminated after a 1 W – 3 L result.
But in their third match, MOUZ had to face Natus Vincere and prove their strength. They are undoubtedly one of the most important teams to watch at the Shanghai Major.
The 3 W – 1 L Teams
Here are the three teams that were defeated by a single opponent:
- FaZe Clan (lost against Vitality)
- Natus Vincere (lost against MOUZ)
- Cloud9 (lost against FaZe Clan)
The first two teams were expected to obtain this result or perhaps an even better one. But Cloud9 surprised us a bit with their performance. It seems that Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhaylov has already succeeded in crafting a solid strategy with his new roster, which was finalized in July this year.
The 3 W – 2 L Teams
Only seven qualification spots were awarded to the 16 teams in this tournament. Because of that, the teams in this category had a very stressful final day. In the case of BetBoom Team, their excellent performance in the fourth and fifth rounds was negated by their tiebreaker defeat against GamerLegion.
The other team that qualified for the Shanghai Major with a 3 W – 2 L result was Fnatic.
