The first-ever Counter-Strike 2 Major Championship is now in the history books of esports forever. It was the first Valve-sanctioned tournament to be played in the franchise’s latest installment and had so many things going for it. A grand final reunion between two historic rivals in Natus Vincere and FaZe, Spirit’s unlikely run to the playoffs, and Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen finishing his Major story that started all the way back in 2019 with ENCE in the middle of Astralis’ dynasty. With such an action-packed two weeks finished, fans are now left wondering as to when is the next CS:GO/CS2 Major?
The second and final CS2 Major of 2024 will be the Perfect World Shanghai Major that will run for two weeks from December 1 to December 15. It is set to become the first Major Championship to ever be held in China under its Counter-Strike distributor and tournament organizer Perfect World.
The Shanghai Major will follow the same format as the PGL Major Copenhagen earlier in the year, with exactly $1,250,000 in total prize money to be given away. The Asia and Americas regions will gain more qualifying spots from their respective Regional Major Ranking tournaments after their teams’ performances in Denmark, while the Europe region will be deducted three spots. TheMongolz put Asia on their backs by qualifying to the Elimination Stage which granted the region and additional slot, while the Americas had their tally increased to seven thanks to Complexity, paiN, Imperial, and FURIA all making it out of the opening round.
What Will Be The Bracket and Format?
As of April 2024, it is understood that the Perfect World Shanghai Major will follow the exact same bracketing and format the PGL Major Copenhagen used. It will start with 16 teams in the Opening Stage with the top eight moving forward through to the Elimination Stage. They will then meet the eight other teams that topped their Regional Major Ranking tournaments for another round of Swiss-format matches in pursuit of a spot in the Playoff Stage to be held in front of the ever-passionate CS crowd.
From there, the Playoff Stage will be the same as it has always been – using a single elimination best-of-three format from the quarter-finals all the way to the grand final. All matches in the Playoff Stage are a best-of-three.
The total prize money is $1,250,000 and will be split accordingly with the top 24 placers of the Perfect World Shanghai Major. The champions will receive the coveted Major trophy and $500,000. Second place will get $170,000; 3-4th $80,000 each; 5-8th $45,000 each; 9-16th $20,000 each; and finally 17-24th will all receive a sum of $10,000 each. Since it is the first time Perfect World will be organizing a Counter-Strike Major, it is yet to be known whether or not certain tournament invites will be awarded to the champions of the Major as has been the case with either ESL or BLAST Premier.
Way-Too-Early Teams To Watch
Natus Vincere
NAVI are the reigning Major Champions and, by default, will be one of the teams to watch come December. Sure, there’s always a chance they might miss the tournament completely once the RMR tournaments begin, but if there’s an organization with the greatest track record of making it to the grandest stage in Counter-Strike, it’s Natus Vincere. 20 Majors sanctioned by Valve in the history of CS, 20 times NAVI have attended with two championships to go with it. As their name suggests, they were born to win.
Spirit
Spirit are on this list due to their impressive Cinderella run at the PGL Major Copenhagen which even made some in the community speculate and predict their overall victory in Denmark. It was not meant to be, however given the tools they have it doesn’t seem like a long way off. With one of the best youngsters in the world, Danil “donk” Kryshkovets, it’s safe to say that Spirit’s ceiling is over the moon at the moment.
G2
One of the annual favorites to make the Major and finally get the trophy that’s evaded them all these years, G2 are in a prime position to finally get rid of their curse and prove all the doubters wrong. With Nikola “NiKo” Kovač still performing at a high rate as one of the game’s greatest veterans and their AWPer Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov making his case to be not just the best sniper, but the best Counter-Strike player in the whole world, Shanghai might finally be the place they achieve what they have been dreaming of for years.