The Shanghai Major starts in less than 24 hours and its Opening Stage features 16 teams. Eight of them will earn the opportunity to challenge the likes of G2 Esports and Natus Vincere for a spot in the Playoff Stage. But to do that, they must get three victories in stage 1.
Opening Stage Favorites
Here are the 16 teams that will compete in the Opening Stage of the Shanghai Major:
- FURIA Esports
- Virtus.pro
- Team Liquid
- Complexity
- BIG
- Fnatic
- The MongolZ
- PaiN Gaming
- GamerLegion
- MIBR
- Cloud9
- FlyQuest
- Passion UA
- Wildcard
- Rare Atom
- Imperial Esports
Among them, there are quite a few big names and exciting new ones that looked very strong in the RMRs. Just take Wildcard, MIBR, and Rare Atom, who won their respective qualifiers. Or Passion UA, who eliminated Astralis and defeated both Virtus.pro and Team Spirit.
Then we have well-known teams like BIG (1st – 2nd in their RMR), The MongolZ (1st – 2nd in their RMR), Cloud9, Complexity, Team Liquid, Virtus.pro, and FURIA.
Whenever a CS2 competition has a lot more good teams than qualification spots for the next phase, the matches are guaranteed to be hyped.
The Opening Stage of the Shanghai Major won’t just be a formality. It will be a brutal battle in which one mistake can ruin months of preparation.
With the attention of more than a million fans, $1.25 million, and a lot of prestige on the line, everyone wants to do well and at the very least compete on the big stage.
Unfortunately, two-thirds of the 24 participants will fail. But that doesn’t mean they won’t fight valiantly. Even the lowest-ranked team in the tournament has a tiny chance of winning. When teams like Astralis and Eternal Fire don’t even qualify, you know that the competitive level is sky-high.
