Wildcard found themselves facing Virtus.pro in an elimination game at the opening stage of the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 CS2 event. The best-of-three series went all the way as the two teams struggled for survival.
Here’s everything that went down during the showdown.
Map Veto
- Virtus.pro banned Nuke
- Wildcard banned Mirage
- Virtus.pro picked Ancient
- Wildcard picked Inferno
- Wildcard banned Dust2
- Virtus.pro banned Vertigo
- Anubis was left over
Game 1: Ancient (Pick: Virtus.pro, Win: Virtus.pro, Final Score: 13-10)
Virtus.pro kicked off the T-side of Ancient on the right foot by winning the pistol round and successfully shutting down consecutive force-buys from Wildcard. It wasn’t until the sixth round that Wildcard could put up their first point on the board, rallying behind a couple of nice AWP shots from Love ‘phzy’ Smidebrant. Some back-to-back round wins enabled Wildcard to close the gap significantly as they headed into the second half trailing closely behind with a 5-7 score.
The second pistol round of Ancient was claimed by Wildcard, which enabled them to equalize the score with the following anti-eco win. Virtus.pro took the first buy round of the half, and Wildcard could grab one additional round before VP took control of the game and found themselves on the brink of victory with a 12-8 score. Wildcard managed to win a couple more rounds before VP closed the game with a 13-10 score in their favor.
Petr “fame” Bolyshev shined in the first game, delivering an impressive performance with 24 kills and 14 deaths.
Game 2: Inferno (Pick: Wildcard, Win: Wildcard, Final Score: 13-7)
Virtus.pro looked to get themselves a head start on Inferno by taking the pistol round on their CT side, but a force-buy from Wildcard was enough to shut them down in the following round. Wildcard capitalized on their economic advantage to snatch two more rounds before VP could retaliate. The teams exchanged a couple of rounds back and forth before Wildcard seized momentum, dictating the pace of the game and closing out the first half with a dominant 9-3 lead.
After losing the crucial pistol round on their T-side, VP committed to a force-buy to keep themselves in the game with a 4-10 score. A number of consecutive round wins enabled them to close the gap a bit, but Wildcard didn’t have much trouble securing game 2 with a 13-7 score.
Game 3: Anubis (Win: Wildcard, Final Score: 13-8)
Wildcard maintained their momentum heading into the final game of the series as they secured the pistol round on their T-side and successfully converted the anti-eco that followed. Clinching the first buy-round on top of that, Wildcard secured an early 4-0 lead before VP finally found their footing with a round-win. However, Wildcard were pretty consistent throughout the half as they headed into their CT side with a comfortable 8-4 lead.
The final pistol round of the series also went Wildcard’s way, as they looked to close the game with back-to-back round wins to get a 12-4 lead over their opposition. VP tried to mount a brief resistance, picking up a few rounds, but it wasn’t enough to turn the tide. Wildcard closed out the game decisively, claiming victory with a 13-8 scoreline.
With this heartbreaking defeat, Virtus.pro has been eliminated from the Shanghai Major 2024. Wildcard, with a 2-2 score in the tournament, still needs one victory to remain in the event and have a fighting chance at the trophy.
