Best Players of the Shanghai CS2 Major

The first-ever CS2 Major held in China, the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024, is now officially in the books. After weeks of intense competition, it was Spirit that bested every other qualified team to stand victorious in front of a packed crowd at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition for their first Major champion in history. From the Opening Stage, to the Elimination Stage, and finally the all-important Playoff Stage of the Shanghai Major, there were certain players that stood out among the rest.

Check out our blog to find coverage of the Shanghai Major and more CS2 eSports content.

CS2 Esports

Opening Stage

For the Opening Stage of the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024, the honors go to the entire lineup of The MongolZ. The highest-rated Asian team based on Valve’s regional standings clawed their way through the RMR tournament for a spot in the Opening Stage and took the world by storm with an impressive 3-0 record after their first three matches. According to HLTV.org’s rating system, Azbayar “Senzu” Munkhbold, Ayush “mzinho” Batbold, Sodbayar “Techno” Munkhbold, and Usukhbayar “910” Banzragch were the four highest-rated players of the entire Opening Stage with ratings of 1.63, 1.56, 1.54, and 1.54 respectively. Team captain Garidmagnai “bLitz” Byambasuren was not too far behind with a respectable 1.22 rating, and together, The MongolZ combined for a whopping 1.50 rating in four maps. To put their talent into perspective, the next closest team to their rating average was the all-Brazilian lineup of MIBR, with a 1.18 rating across eight maps. Felipe “insani” Yuji was their best player and the fifth highest-rated player of the Opening Stage with a 1.45 rating.

Elimination Stage

Throughout the Elimination Stage matches it was clear that the competition had stepped up in a massive way. The best teams and best players in the whole world competed for only eight spots in the Playoff Stage and a chance to lift the Major trophy for potentially the first time in their careers. Throughout the Elimination Stage, it was the usual culprits that dealt the most damage to their opponents and racked up win after win. Teenage prodigy Danil “donk” Kryshkovets led the way for Spirit to qualify for the playoffs with a 3-1 record, only losing to FURIA before a three-match win streak commenced. Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut has always been one of the best players in the world throughout his entire career, and the Elimination Stage was yet another demonstration of his talent. Under his guidance, Vitality only played three matches, winning them all and qualifying for the Playoff Stage with a 3-0 victory. Senzu was also the best player for The MongolZ in the Elimination Stage, where their fairytale run at the Perfect World Shanghai Major continued after yet another 3-0 record at the end of the campaign.

Playoff Stage

By the time the Playoff Stage had concluded, it was really no surprise to see who the top performers of the tournament were. donk was awarded the HLTV MVP award after Spirit took home the championship, earning it with a staggering 1.49 record across 14 maps played. Even as Spirit faced an elimination match in Map 2 of their semi-final against MOUZ, donk proved why he is in the conversation of “best in the world” currently and willed the organization to its first Major title ever.

ZywOo was not able to better his rating as Vitality was eliminated right at the beginning of the Playoff Stage with a 1-2 defeat to Grand Finalists FaZe in the quarterfinals. It was far from the best season for ZywOo or Vitality, yet the French sniper still put up a remarkable 1.37 rating to earn an EVP award for the Perfect World Shanghai Major.

The other EVP awardees for the Perfect World Shanghai Major were G2’s Nikola “NiKo” Kovač, FaZe’s Robin “ropz” Kool, and the Spirit pair of Boris “magixx” Vorobiev and Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov. NiKo failed to win a Major in the last year of his tenure with G2 and had to settle for a semifinal finish despite his team-high 1.26 rating. ropz had always been one of the steadiest players on FaZe and typically shows up a lot in the second half when clutch time is a major factor, so it’s no surprise to see him with a 1.21 rating after his efforts. Finally, both magixx and sh1ro can finally call themselves Major champions after winning the biggest tournament in Counter-Strike for the first time in their careers. They tallied 1.15 and 1.14 ratings, respectively, in a solid contribution effort as the supporting cast for donk’s individual heroics all throughout the Shanghai Major.

Twitter Giveaways

Daily skin giveaways on our Twitter

Join