The culmination of Counter-Strike in 2024 has begin. Perfect World Shanghai Major, today, moved into the Playoffs stage at the Oriental Sports Centre. And with changing venues, came changing fortunes for some of the Top 8 teams. Let’s recap everything that happened on Day 1. 

The Crowd queues up in Shanghai

Approaching the venue, two hours before kick off, it was clear that despite being a Thursday, this Arena was going to fill up. And to say it was packed would be an understatement. Across the venue, there wasn’t a single section that had any significant number of empty seats. The Chinese fans showed up in droves.

But filled seats isn’t everything when the crowd isn’t amazing. Excusing their occasional, and in my opinion accidental, “cheating” incidents, the crowd was lovely. Watching from the Arena, you couldn’t help but cheer along. From Analysts’ appearance, to headshots in the server, every moment of significance got a massive cheer from the crowd. And there wasn’t a hint of bias. While TheMongolZ may be the Asian representatives, MOUZ’s players received just as much of a cheer for every success. 

The crowd showed it’s level of current CS knowledge, when young prodigy donk received by far the biggest cheer. 

El Papito - PashaBiceps brings out the Major Trophy

PashaBiceps in recent years has emerged as a true ambassador of this sport, and it wasn’t a surprise to see him at Shanghai. Bringing out the beautifully crafted trophy, Papito was warmly welcomed to China as he set the stage for the battles to come.

Was there a case to be made for a Chinese legend to bring out the trophy? Yes. But PashaBiceps remains one of the most beloved former-Champions in the scene, and his presence at the Major is always appreciated. 

The MongolZ’s incredible run comes to an end

The most exciting storyline for the major was TheMongolZ’s undefeated run into the Major Playoffs. But questions were raised about the team’s experience on stage, especially considering their incredible young core of stars. Unfortunately for fans of the Mongolian side, those fears came true. 

Early on Ancient, you’d be forgiven for thinking that TheMongolZ were in control of the series. But the underlying reality was that Senzu, who has been their superstar, was completely missing. While Mzinho’s massive overperformance patched over some of the holes early on, the Anchor was unable to carry his team to a victory alone. After a disastrous half for MOUZ, Brollan woke up to answer Mzinho, frag for frag. The Swedish rifler finished the game with 43 kills, and powered MOUZ to a Semi-Finals at Shanghai.

Techno4k, in the post-match Interview, said "A man can be defeated but not destroyed.” Let’s hope that TheMongolZ live up to that bold claim.

Liquid get donked

Liquid’s run to the Playoffs made them a paper tiger at best. MIBR, Furia, and GamerLegion are all teams with clear glaring flaws, and the only significant series against NAVI was a loss. Yet making Playoffs alone was a massive achievement for a team that has been through four roster shuffles in recent years. Twistzz’s inexperience in the IGL role was apparent in the series, as Chopper brilliantly led his men across the line on Dust2.

But it wouldn’t be a Spirit series without a section just discussing donk. This series was absolutely incredible from the young phenom. Anubis could have easily been a blowout in the favor of Liquid, given chopper and magixx’s inability to hold down a bombsite. But every single time Liquid managed to get past the initial line of defense, donk walked in and nabbed a multikill. That gave his team enough time to get fired up by the time Dust2 rolled around.

Spirit stroll into the Semifinal

Chopper’s missed pistol kill in Round 13 of Dust2 was a turning point for the IGL himself. After missing an easy kill, which led to a collective facepalm from the crowd, the captain brought out some of his 2017 form. It was clear from the gameplan that Chopper was feeling the game brilliantly, and Liquid quickly evaporated under the pressure. 

READ MORE: [Exclusive] Brollan on the match against Spirit in the Shanghai Major semifinals: "We played them many times and we won the majority of the games"

That’s a wrap for Day 1 at the Perfect World Shanghai Major playoffs. With Vitality, G2 and FaZe yet to come, Shanghai will blow the roof off the arena, when Counter-Strike returns tomorrow.