The Shanghai Major’s second stage is only two rounds away from concluding.
Team Vitality and The MongolZ have already qualified for the playoffs thanks to their excellent performance in the first three matches.
The remaining competitors, with the exception of Wildcard and BIG, who have been eliminated, will need to play their best CS of 2024 to advance. Natus Vincere and MOUZ are in grave danger, having lost two of their first three matches. Only two victories will be sufficient at this point.
Vitality’s Path To The Playoffs
Vitality entered the tournament as the 3rd best team in the world. Everyone expected them to do well, and their job was made easier by the fact that they had the chance to encounter lower-ranked opponents: GamerLegion, FURIA Esports, and MIBR.
The best of these teams is ranked 8th, while the worst is ranked 20th. Under these circumstances, Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut had a lot of fun and ended up being the best player on the server twice. Against GamerLegion, his rating 2.1 was 1.91 and his KD score was 24 – 9.
After winning their first two matches, MIBR were expected to make life hard for Vitality, but they ended up losing 3 – 13 on Mirage and 5 – 13 on Anubis. Thanks to this victory, one of the tournament’s favorites advanced to the final stage.
The MongolZ’s Path To The Playoffs
The MongolZ also won their first three matches but their opponents were much stronger than Vitality’s: G2 Esports, MOUZ, and HEROIC. All of these teams are ranked in the top seven at the moment.
The MongolZ struggled to win their matches but what’s important is that they somehow did. In the process, they proved once again that they can now deal with pressure relatively easily. In fact, they seem to play better because of it.
Another thing that might be helping them is the live audience. In Shanghai, an Asian team that can defeat Europe’s giants will always be cheered on.
