Shanghai Major Opening Stage Day 1 – Matches To Watch

Counter-Strike action has been on cooldown for the past week, but they’re about to bang the gong as the Shanghai Major Opening Stage begins in just a few hours. We’ll be treated with a handful of fierce best of 1 action to start the long-awaited tournament.

The opening day of this stage is arguably the most important out of the four-day course. Some teams will immediately end their day with a commanding 2 – 0 record, while less fortunate ones will be one series away from elimination, so there is a lot riding on these Best of 1s, and teams cannot afford to have a slow start. 

If you don’t have all day to watch every match, here are the three I’m looking forward to watching on the first day of the Opening Stage.

Virtus.Pro vs. MIBR

In my opinion, the most anticipated match of the first round has to be Virtus.Pro taking on one of the 3 – 0 finishers at the Americas RMR – MIBR. This is the highest-rated matchup in terms of ranking, as it’ll be a clash between #12 and #19. 

However, raw numbers aren’t the only reason this match will be heated. It’s a clash of opposite playstyles. Virtus.Pro is known for slow and ratty plays, making enemies itch as rounds get deeper, while Brazilian Counter-Strike is notoriously known to shower in the chaos and take aim duels whenever an opportunity arises. 

In terms of current form, I’d favor MIBR in the firepower department, but the experience in high-pressure situations heavily leans towards the squad of five Major winners, so we should be in for a good game. 

Team Liquid vs. Cloud9

Next on the cards is a derby between two of the largest North American organizations, though we’ll only see two out of ten players from the actual home region. 

Despite being one of the heavy favourites to make it past the Opening Stage, Team Liquid hasn’t been in their best shape. On the other side, we have an unproven Cloud9 squad looking to take names with their star rifler HeavyGod putting on a show in the European RMR. 

I think this head-to-head matchup falls on the shoulders of both AWPers, ICY and ultimate, who are both relatively inexperienced players. Each team will be banking on their sniper to outdo their counterpart. I have Team Liquid on my Pick ‘Ems, so I’m hoping Roland from Poland takes action. 

BIG vs. Passion UA

The full German squad of BIG was already celebrating their spot at the Top 16 until Valve made a rule change in the middle of the event to have them start in the opening stage. On the other side of the coin, Passion UA is looking to make one of the best storylines in modern-day Counter-Strike.

We’ve had this exact same matchup in the 2 – 0 pool of the European RMR, with BIG completing the reverse sweep to cross the finish line before Passion UA did. However, the young Ukrainians aren’t any pushovers, and they had to beat some of the strongest teams in their RMR group to be here.

I’d put both teams on relatively even footing, slightly leaning towards BIG. But this matchup is tough to predict, and it will come down to which team starts the day with guns blazing. 

However, we must remember that there will be two sets of Best of 1 matches, meaning every team will play twice. The second-round matches will be determined after the results of the first, so the action doesn’t stop there. 

Keep up with our Shanghai major coverage here.