Shanghai Major Opening Stage Pick Ems Prediction

The Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 stickers were introduced earlier today, which also means that the Pick Ems are also live. For beginners and experts alike to asses, I have put together my thoughts and my predictions for the Opening Stage.

Flawless win pick ems

Starting off my pick ems with the flawless win bracket, because those are the most fun postulates. For first team to go in the 3-0 bracket, I’ll place my confidence in The MongolZ, who in my opinion are really reliable in terms of their Counter-Strike. I expect them to get the better of Rare Atom in the opening match, who are yet to defeat The MongolZ in a Bo3. Post that, I am rooting for The MongolZ to potentially beat the likes of Liquid, Virtus.Pro, Complexity and make a deep run.

The other team in contention for a flawless run is Cloud9, who look solid with Heavygod starts packing his punches. As for the unfortunate 0-3 candidates, it’s always a tough call, but my picks are Imperial and Rare Atom. While the RMR didn’t have any obvious weak links, these two teams seem the most likely to fall short on the biggest stage.

Shanghai Major 3-1 pick ems

FURIA and Complexity have been in strong form recently and are expected to make it through. Liquid could be a contender for the 3-0 bracket, but I believe their reliance on inconsistent players makes them a difficult team to confidently back for a flawless run. BIG and Fnatic have also been performing well in recent times, and I’m expecting them to go the distance, so I’ve placed them in the 3-1 bracket.

There’s always a top-tier team that doesn’t meet expectations, and in this case, I’m looking at Virtus.pro. The team hasn’t adapted that well to CS2 in my opinion, especially looking at drop offs in individual performances. Jame’s HLTV rating has plummeted from 1.18 in 2023 to just 1.03, FL1T’s has dropped from 1.15 to 1.07, and n0rb3r7 has seen his fall from 1.05 to 0.97, while electronic’s numbers have also dipped. A lot of this might be accredited to the 2.1 rating system, the fact remains that Virtus.pro doesn’t seem to be the powerhouse they once were.

Every tournament has its dark horse

On the flip side, there’s always room for a dark horse to play spoiler, and it’s hard to say which team. It could be either of Pain, MIBR, FlyQuest, GamerLegion, or Wildcard stepping up on a good day. I’ll lean towards MIBR to go through, so that we at least have two Brazilian teams in the Elimination Stage. This wraps up the 3-1 or 3-2 bracket with Furia, Complexity, Liquid, BIG, mibr, and fnatic making the cut.

Keep in mind folks, the only guarantee is uncertainty, especially in pick ems. But the thrill is in the speculation. I wouldn’t advise copying someone else’s prediction, but encourage you to make your own. Whether or not you score a diamond coin, I hope you have fun doing it.