Spirit win the Perfect World Shanghai Major

More than anything, this Major has been a saga of shattered dreams and sidestepping disaster. First, it was NAVI’s unceremonious exit in the elimination stage, then Vitality’s fall from grace, followed by NiKo’s agonizing wait for his maiden Major trophy.

But it ends with FaZe and karrigan, who are left clutching at straws. But there has been one team through it all, that have been extraordinary, that will be remembered as the winners of the Perfect World Shanghai Major, Team Spirit.

It seemed like destiny had written the perfect fairy tale for FaZe, a storybook ending that was theirs for the taking. But similar to how things went down at the Copenhagen Major, FaZe fell short at the final juncture. One round and a single left foe standing made the difference for Spirit, as they bagged their Organisation’s first Counter-Strike Major.

Match break-up

Starting on Nuke, a map that should have been FaZe’s fortress, Spirit refused to be cowed. FaZe was stopped by the brute firepower of a single man- and it wasn’t donk. A Herculean 1.80-rated performance from magixx obliterate FaZe on their own pick, and will reverberate for years to come.

But magixx didn’t stop there. He continued to pile on the misery with a 1.53 rating on the second map Ancient, but was overshadowed by ropz this time aroundz And FaZe answered back with a 13-6 win.

And then came the final map Dust2. After two crucial maps form magixx, it was almost like donk stepped and said, “Leave it to me”. A 30-bomb on the decider, that proved to be paramount in taking Spirit to a 12-5 scoreline. But then for all Counter-Strike fans, twist awaited.

6 rounds in a row, with a round that I’ll never believe FaZe managed to pull of kept FaZe just one round away from tying up the scorelines in overtime. I believed, we all believed, especially after the 23rd round, that Counter-Strike won’t stop there. However, it all came down to a 1v1 between sh1ro and broky, that the Latvian will sooner bury than relive.

Ultimatley, for FaZe and for karrigan, it was another cruel twist of fate. The veteran IGL has spent years honing his craft, but now stands with 3 losses in 4 Major finals. It’s a harsh reminder that Counter-Strike, like life, is rarely kind to sentiment