Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 is approaching its climax, and we are already at the Playoff stage, where the best teams in the world compete for the championship title. It's currently the quarterfinals, followed by the semifinals, and then the much-anticipated grand final and the distribution of the tournament's main prizes.

The match between Spirit and Liquid promises to be one of the most intriguing confrontations of this stage. The winner of this match will gain not only the chance to advance to the semifinals but also to get closer to the coveted trophy and a substantial cash prize.

Current Team Form

Spirit

Spirit is showing stable performance at S-tier tournaments with a rating of 6.3 over the past month. After a confident performance at BLAST Premier: World Final 2024, where the team reached the final, they continued to perform well at Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024. In the RMR, Spirit struggled out of the group stage, but thanks to the new Valve rules, they started directly from the Elimination Stage and finished that stage with a 3-1 record. In their last five matches, the team secured four victories (HEROIC, NAVI, Wildcard, NIP), losing only to FURIA.

Liquid

Liquid also has a high rating of 6.2 over the past month. Despite a setback at BLAST Premier: World Final 2024, where they didn't advance from the group stage, the team confidently passed the RMR (3-1), Opening Stage (3-0), and Elimination Stage (3-1). In the last five matches, Liquid won four times (MIBR, FURIA, GamerLegion, FlyQuest), losing only to NAVI.

Team Map Pool

Spirit

The team prefers to ban Inferno (38 times) and bets on Mirage (52% win rate), Dust II (72%), or Ancient (59%), depending on the opponent. Spirit's strongest maps are Vertigo (86%), Nuke (75%), and Dust II (72%).

Liquid

Liquid usually avoids playing on Vertigo (26 times) and chooses maps where the opponent is weak. Their choices often fall on Inferno (56%), Nuke (44%), or Anubis (88%). Liquid's most successful maps are Ancient (90%), Anubis (88%), and Inferno (56%).

Map pool prediction: The match is most likely to take place on Ancient.

Head-to-Head Matches

In the last six months, the teams played each other only once — two months ago. In that match, Liquid defeated Spirit 2-1, showcasing a close contest between the teams.

Match Prediction

Both teams are in good form, making their upcoming clash extremely interesting. However, the map pool could be a key factor. Liquid has a clear advantage on Ancient, while Spirit has strong maps in Vertigo and Dust II, which are likely to be banned.

Considering the last head-to-head match and strong performances at Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024, the chances of winning look about equal. But if the match takes place on Ancient, Liquid might have a slight edge.

Prediction: Liquid will win 2-1.

The Playoff of the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 will take place from December 12 to 15. It will feature 8 teams that passed through the Elimination Stage, and they will compete for the title of the strongest team and a share of the $1,250,000 prize pool. Follow the tournament events here.