APAC CS is back on top (at least for now) as the Shanghai Major kicked off.
Day one of the Shanghai Major has wrapped, and against all odds its two Asia-Pacific teams that stand head and shoulders above. Meanwhile, some big names failed to find their spark on opening day and must rally — or face an early flight home on day two.
Here's the wrap up of rounds one and two at the Perfect World Shanghai Major Opening Stage.
FlyQuest, MongolZ on brink of Elimination Stage qualification after stellar openers
The classic "F**k your PickEm's" phrase was uttered once more as Australian squad FlyQuest barnstormed their wait to a 2-0 record with massive wins over Complexity and BIG.
FlyQuest, who was once again classed as a rank outsider by many in the community, were slotted into many PickEm's as a 0-3 squad, but once again the Aussies proved world beaters when it mattered most.
The Australians opened with a stifling 13-6 win over Complexity which featured an 11-1 T half on Anubis. The North American outfit put up little resistance in the best-of-one. Joshua "INS" Potter (19-7, 1.67 HLTV rating) was the best of the bunch in the opening match.
Not many expected FlyQuest to back up with such ferocity against BIG, but back up they did: FlyQuest burst out of the gates and put the German team to the sword. Another stellar T half led by captain Chris "dexter" Nong (20-12, 1.70 rating) was quickly converted into a 13-5 map win. FlyQuest takes on Team Liquid (including Aussie Justin "jks" Savage) for a spot in the Elimination Stage.
Fellow APAC reps The MongolZ were equally successful on opening day. The top 10 team is expected to make it to the Elimination Stage with relative ease, but set the record straight early with blistering wins over Rare Atom (13-2) and MIBR (13-6).
They'll take on GamerLegion in the second qualifying match tomorrow.
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Complexity, Fnatic stumble into 0-2 elimination after shocking day one
Complexity's day only grew worse after the defeat to FlyQuest. The squad were then handed an equally embarrassing 13-9 loss to Passion UA. The young Ukrainian outfit struggled early but rebounded on Anubis, while outside of Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski, Complexity fans were left wanting.
The North American squad look a shadow of their former selves as they hobble into tomorrow's elimination game against an equally-weak Imperial Esports. It's the exact opposite position they were in back at the Copenhagen Major, where they won their opening Legends Stage matches before crashing out 2-3.
The top four finish at ESL Pro League Season 19 is far removed from this version of CoL. They now have no more second chances in Shanghai.
Fnatic too struggled to get going and join Complexity and Imperial in elimination. The boys in orange were stunned by Wildcard on Mirage 13-11 — a map Wildcard have perma-banned — before falling to Cloud9 13-5. They're favored in the 0-2 match tomorrow against Rare Atom, but the Chinese team will have the crowd behind them as they also aim to keep their major hopes alive.
The Shanghai Major resumes tomorrow at 4am CET. For more CS2 news, check out esports.gg!
