The first round of the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 Opening Stage wrapped up with paiN dominating Imperial in a high-stakes Brazilian face-off.
The two teams clashed on Dust2, where Imperial initially gained a 4-1 lead. However, paiN completely shifted the game’s trajectory with a pivotal force buy in the sixth round. From there, paiN took control, winning twelve of the next thirteen rounds to claim a decisive 13-5 victory, leaving Imperial with little room to recover.
Earlier in the day, Wildcard secured an upset victory against fnatic on Mirage, overcoming an 8-11 deficit. Josh “JBa” Barutt delivered a stellar performance in the closing stages, improving from a quiet 3-10 scoreline to finish 19-11. His late-game resurgence propelled Wildcard to a narrow 13-11 win and a place in the 1-0 pool.
Other notable results included BIG defeating Passion UA with a dominant 9-3 CT-side showing on Mirage. Meanwhile, The MongolZ dismantled Rare Atom on Anubis, securing an overwhelming 13-2 victory that left no room for doubt.
With these results, the stage is set for some thrilling matchups in the second round. In the 0-1 pool, FURIA will face off against Imperial, while fnatic takes on Cloud9. In the 1-0 pool, Liquid will battle Wildcard, and an intriguing showdown between BIG and FlyQuest will determine who advances to the 2-0 bracket.
