The opening day of the Elimination Stage at the Perfect World Shanghai Major wrapped up with a fast-paced series of matches. Unfortunately for North America, both teams are already in precarious positions after competing in two best-of-one games. The path to the playoffs now looks even more challenging.
Wildcard Gaming, a low-ranked team, faced an uphill battle against tough opponents. Their first matchup was against FaZe Clan on Ancient. While Wildcard managed to take an early lead, they were overwhelmed by the performance of Håvard “rain” Nygaard, leading to a lopsided loss in the second half. In round two, Wildcard went up against Spirit, another formidable roster, and once again faltered on their CT side in the game’s latter stages. Initially needing two consecutive best-of-three wins to advance, Wildcard now finds themselves in a must-win situation requiring three straight victories, starting with a matchup against GamerLegion.
Team Liquid also had a rocky start, opening their Elimination Stage campaign against NAVI. The Canadian duo of Keith “NAF” Markovic and Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken delivered an impressive T-side on Inferno, allowing Liquid to pull off a major upset. However, the rest of the roster failed to maintain momentum, and their CT side crumbled under the pressure of the reigning champions. Liquid recovered in their second match, again on Inferno, defeating GamerLegion. This time, European players Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis and Roland “ultimate” Tomkowiak stepped up, with YEKINDAR excelling on the T-side and ultimately shining on CT.
At 1-1, Liquid now faces a decisive third-round matchup. It will take on FURIA, a team that has already bested Spirit and pushed Vitality into overtime. The stakes remain high as Liquid aims to keep its playoff hopes alive.
