PW Shanghai Major playoffs day 2 as it happened

Vitality 5-7 FaZe

From a 4-1 deficit, FaZe have brought it back to 5-7 and lead at the half by two, with Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants and Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard matching Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool's initial intensity.

Vitality 4-4 FaZe

FaZe have put up three straight and have tied Mirage up 4-4, prompting Vitality to call a timeout as they struggle to find openings in the defense.

Vitality 1-0 FaZe

Vitality got the 1-0 lead after Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi got the best of David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský, who tried to defuse the bomb under the veil of a smoke.

Vitality 13-6 FaZe

Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool's heroics were not enough to get FaZe back into the map as Vitality flew to a 13-6 victory on Nuke with their Mirage pick coming up next.

The last time these two teams played Mirage was at the RMR, on November 18, where Vitality came out on top 13-5.

Vitality 10-6 FaZe

Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool got a triple, including a 1vs1 on the A site, to keep FaZe alive after Vitality hit double digits.

Vitality 8-4 FaZe

FaZe won the final four to cut Vitality's lead. Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool came alive in his team's push and tallied 12 kills at the switch.

Vitality 8-2 FaZe

FaZe have gotten on the board in back-to-back rounds, cutting the eight round deficit down to six as the first half reaches its final two rounds.

Vitality 7-0 FaZe

A truly filthy transfers from Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi.

Vitality 5-0 FaZe

Vitality have run off to a 5-0 lead right out of the gate on FaZe's Nuke pick and are starting to build up a strong CT economy early on with the hope of further increasing their lead.

Nuke, Mirage and Anubis made it through the pick and ban phase. The series will start on FaZe's Nuke, followed by Vitality's Mirage, with Anubis floated as the decider if there's a stalemate after the first two.

G2 13-13 HEROIC

He had a rough first two maps, but Mario "⁠malbsMd⁠" Samayoa is the reason G2 are still in this.

G2 12-12 HEROIC

Of course we are. And honestly, I don't want this game to end.

G2 10-11 HEROIC

Get that on a highlight reel! (Please don't).

G2 9-11 HEROIC

G2 7-9 HEROIC

G2 6-7 HEROIC

Can HEROIC make the most out of their pistol-round success?

G2 6-6 HEROIC

This CT side isn't the Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač show, but rather a collective effort by G2. All their members are between eight and six kills, while Abdul "⁠degster⁠" Gasanov leads the way for HEROIC with nine.

G2 5-5 HEROIC

G2 4-4 HEROIC

Four AWP kills, two apiece by Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski and Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov, mean G2 have tied up the scores. Game on!

G2 0-2 HEROIC

It's been an even series so far, but HEROIC have been dominant in the pistols.

G2 13-9 HEROIC

What a game by Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač. He was relatively quiet on the T side but took over on the defense with 20 kills, 212 ADR, and a 3.44 rating.

He is now up to a 1.89 overall rating in the series, with Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov providing solid backup at 1.33. The less said about the other three the better, though.

G2 12-9 HEROIC

What a CT masterclass by Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač.

G2 10-8 HEROIC

Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov joins Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač in the fragging department, and G2 are ahead.

G2 8-8 HEROIC

He whiffed in the pistol, but Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač's nine kills in three rounds have equalized the score on Nuke. Insane impact from the Bosnian superstar.

G2 6-8 HEROIC

G2 4-7 HEROIC

No words, just clips.

G2 2-5 HEROIC

Even a knife kill during all of that.

G2 1-2 HEROIC

G2 decided to pick into HEROIC's weakness of Nuke despite having played the map just four times in the last three months.

They are 100% on it, though, as they defeated the likes of Spirit and Natus Vincere recently, while HEROIC three-month Nuke record includes losses to MIBR and ENCE.

G2 6-13 HEROIC

G2 went on a 3-13 streak to peter out in a dissapointing finish to the opening map. Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač gave it his best and put up 22 kills and 113 ADR, but it was far from enough for victory.

On to Nuke we go!

G2 6-12 HEROIC

Probably too late for Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski and company, but HEROIC's economy is far from healthy thanks to G2's consecutive force buys.

G2 5-10 HEROIC

Flanks upon flanks, and HEROIC are up to double digits. Damjan "⁠kyxsan⁠" Stoilkovski's troops fought off consecutive G2 force buys and look good value to take the lead in the series.

G2 5-7 HEROIC

Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač's 137 ADR, 18 kills, and four successful opening duels isn't enough to give G2 the lead at the half.

HEROIC put up a great offensive side on their map pick and go into the break two rounds up.

G2 4-3 HEROIC

Interesting.

G2 3-0 HEROIC

G2 began their opponent's pick with three rounds off the back of the pistol after looking sharp in the opening duels.

Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač is having a fun time so far — he has 272 ADR.

The classic permabans opened the veto phase, with HEROIC going for the Ancient pick. G2 then decided to choose Nuke as they aim to exploit HEROIC's weakness on the map, with Mirage the decider if needed.

A deciding factor in the series will no doubt be the head to head between Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač and Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz.

Both riflers had stellar campaign so far — NiKo is currently the third-highest rated player at the event (1.35) behind Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets and Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut, while NertZ (1.20) leads the way for HEROIC by a considerable margin (0.12).

G2 and HEROIC had contrasting campaigns that got them to the final eight stage.

Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač and company had a relatively straightforward Elimination Stage, where their only blip was a loss to The MongolZ.

They answered that defeat with a dominant string of results and only lost 20 rounds across their next four maps to make it to the playoffs.

Date	Matches
Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024
05/12/2024	G2 Finished 10:13 The MongolZ	Match
05/12/2024	G2 Finished 13:5 BIG	Match
06/12/2024	G2 Finished 13:8 3DMAX	Match
07/12/2024	G2 Finished 2:0 FaZe	Match

HEROIC had a much harder time going through. While wins against BIG and FaZe got them a ticket to the 2-0 pool, they struggled to get the final notch on their belt to make it.

Defeats to The MongolZ and Spirit meant they clashed with Natus Vincere in the 2-2 match, where a Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz masterclass got them over the line and into the playoffs.

Date	Matches
Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024
05/12/2024	HEROIC Finished 13:7 BIG	Match
05/12/2024	FaZe Finished 8:13 HEROIC	Match
06/12/2024	The MongolZ Finished 2:1 HEROIC	Match
07/12/2024	Spirit Finished 2:1 HEROIC	Match
08/12/2024	HEROIC Finished 2:1 Natus Vincere	Match

Just six more teams remain in the running for the Major trophy, and two will leave contention after today.

G2 vs. HEROIC will open proceedings with a match that massively favors Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski's troops before FaZe takes on Vitality in a battle of two battle-hardened IGLs, Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire and Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen.

Date	Matches
Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024
13/12/2024	G2 07:00 HEROIC	Match
13/12/2024	Vitality 11:25 FaZe	Match