Shanghai Major Opening Stage Day 4 – Who Will Advance?

After three days of gruelling action and heartbreak, we have reached the final day of the Shanghai Major Opening Stage. Six teams are left, but only three can advance to the next stage of the Counter-Strike tournament. 

We will have three extremely competitive matchups for once, as it is difficult to name a clear favorite for each of the remaining matches. So, who’s going through to join the elites waiting in the Elimination Stage? 

BIG vs. Complexity Gaming

I personally hate this matchup, as I had both BIG and Complexity advancing on my Pick ‘Ems, but here we are. My Diamond dream is dead already. 

Anyways, BIG looked extremely promising in the RMR, but they have started losing steam in the past few days. This slowdown became apparent after the loss against FalleN and FURIA, as the Germans dropped their map pick to get blown out 3 – 13 in the decider of Dust II. 

On the other side, Complexity Gaming is recovering from a 0 – 2 start, winning four maps in a row after a clean sweep against Cloud9. However, EliGE seriously had to bail his team out on the first map against HeavyGod and the crew as Complexity pulled off a 2 – 10 comeback on Ancient to win in overtime. 

Judging by the map pool, Complexity will have an advantage in the veto, and frankly speaking, BIG wasn’t playing at the level I expected them to in the match against FURIA. I think the North American representatives have the upper hand in this series and will join Team Liquid in the next stage.

MIBR vs. FlyQuest

The following matchup features a clash between MIBR and FlyQuest, probably the closest matchup of the day. 

MIBR had to play 5v6 in the match against Rare Atom yesterday, with the sixth man being the Chinese crowd. Though MIBR were seen outclassing the hometown heroes, it was evident that the pressure from all the chants against them was getting into their heads. Though the Brazilians dropped a map, it looked to me that MIBR was still in good shape. 

FlyQuest couldn’t capitalize on their golden opportunity to go 3 – 1 in their match against paiN Gaming, who outdid them in firepower. The Aussies did put up a great fight on their opponent’s map pick, losing 14 – 16 in overtime, but they ran out of juice on their pick, Inferno, where they lost 6 – 13. 

This one is extremely tough to predict, but I genuinely think FlyQuest could have beaten paiN Gaming had their individuals not had off-games. If FlyQuest shows up in at least average form, I think we’ll see six Australians in the Top 16 for the first time in a millennia. 

Wildcard Gaming vs. Passion UA

If you told me before the Major and RMRs that Wildcard or Passion UA would play for a spot in the Top 16, I’d say you were crazy. These two teams were considered Tier 3 before the Major qualifiers began, and now, they are on the cusp of standing alongside the best in the world. 

Though I knew Virtus.Pro was in terrible form, I never imagined Wildcard would actually pull off the upset and eliminate Jame and company from the Major. However, Wildcard genuinely played some good Counter-Strike – it looks like stanislaw’s callouts are still working out great five years after his prime.

Passion UA lost their series against GamerLegion yesterday, even though jambo was putting up numbers with a 1.35 rating. I really believe the pressure is starting to mount for the Ukranian squad. With an average age of 19.8 and the Major being their second LAN tournament ever, I fear Passion UA’s inexperience will prevent them from advancing any further. 

I think Wildcard has a really good shot at taking this series, but it certainly won’t be an easy match. I never thought I’d be piecing this sentence together, but I believe Amouranth and her organization might share the stage with the likes of NAVI, G2, and Vitality.