There is no better way to round up a season of professional competition than with the most pivotal tournament. That’s why everyone’s beyond excited about the Perfect World Shanghai Counter-Strike 2 Major, the first Valve-sponsored event in the franchise to take place in Asia.

In the past, Majors usually took place in the late spring and in the middle of fall. Valve decided to give a twist to the calendar by scheduling Perfect World Shanghai CS2 Major right before the winter break, finishing the season with a bang. And it will truly be a blast, since the strongest teams in the world have made it to the tournament by competing in the RMRs.

Perfect World Shanghai CS2 Major’s format and teams

Not much has changed in terms of format when compared to the previous few CS Majors. 24 teams will compete in two Swiss stages—Opening and Elimination—which whittle the field down to eight teams in the playoffs.

Aleksib celebrating winning a match at the PGL Copenhagen CS2 Major.
Natus Vincere are the defending champions. Photo by Stephanie Lindgren via PGL

The first two stages feature the now.familiar Swiss system, where 16 squads compete in best-of-one and best-of-three matches. The top eight from the Opening Stage qualify for the Elimination Stage, where the eight strongest competitors from the RMRs (based on Valve Ranking’s seeding) are already waiting. After another Swiss Stage spectacle, eight teams advance to the playoffs. The deciding stage is a single-elimination bracket, where all matches are best-of-three.

Here’s the full list of teams qualified for both Elimination and Opening Stages. They are listed respectively with their Valve Ranking’s seeding from top to bottom.

Elimination Stage Opening Stage
G2 Esports FURIA Esports
Natus Vincere Virtus.pro
Team Vitality Team Liquid
Team Spirit Complexity Gaming
MOUZ BIG
FaZe Clan Fnatic
HEROIC The MongolZ
3DMAX paiN Gaming
The MongolZ GamerLegion
Team Liquid MIBR
FURIA Esports Cloud9
paiN Gaming FlyQuest
GamerLegion Passion UA
MIBR Wildcard
BIG Rare Atom
Wildcard Imperial Esports

Perfect World Shanghai CS2 Major schedule and results

New Team Liquid rifler jks smiles after a won round while playing at BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024.
Liquid and 15 other teams begin their journey at the Opening Stage. Photo by Stephanie Lindgren via BLAST

The tournament is still divided into three phases, with a short break between them. There will be a one-day rest between the Opening and Elimination stages, with three days of rest taking place before the playoffs.

  • Opening Stage: Nov. 29–Dec. 3
  • Elimination Stage: Dec. 4–Dec. 8
  • Playoffs Stage: Dec. 12–Dec. 15

Perfect World Shanghai CS2 Major playoffs’ schedule, results

Thursday, Dec. 12

  • 12am: MongolZ vs. MOUZ (First quarterfinal)
  • 3am: Liquid vs. Spirit (Second quarterfinal)

Friday, Dec. 13

  • 12am: G2 vs. HEROIC (Third quarterfinal)
  • 3am: FaZe vs. Vitality (Fourth quarterfinal)

Saturday, Dec. 14

  • 12am: TBD vs. TBD (First semifinal)
  • 3am: TBD vs. TBD (Second semifinal)

Sunday, Dec. 15

  • 3am: TBD vs. TBD (Grand final)

Perfect World Shanghai CS2 Major Elimination Stage schedule, results

Wednesday, Dec. 4

  • 9pm: G2 Esports 10-13 The MongolZ (Inferno)
  • 9pm: Natus Vincere 13-10 Team Liquid (Nuke)
  • 10pm: Team Vitality 13-7 GamerLegion (Mirage)
  • 10pm: Spirit 6-13 FURIA (Dust 2)
  • 11pm: MOUZ 13-6 paiN (Nuke)
  • 11pm: FaZe Clan 13-10 Wildcard (Ancient)

Thursday, Dec. 5

  • 12am: HEROIC 13-7 BIG (Mirage)
  • 12am: 3DMAX 11-13 MIBR (Vertigo)
  • 1am: Liquid 13-10 GamerLegion (Inferno) (Swiss round two begins)
  • 1am: Vitality 16-13 FURIA (Mirage)
  • 2am: Spirit 13-6 Wildcard (Ancient)
  • 2am: MOUZ 13-16 TheMongolZ (Mirage)
  • 3am: Natus Vincere 11-13 MIBR (Inferno)
  • 3am: G2 13-5 BIG (Mirage)
  • 4am: FaZe 8-13 HEROIC (Ancient)
  • 4am: 3DMAX 13-11 paiN (Dust 2)
  • 9pm: Natus Vincere 2-13 Spirit (Mirage) (Swiss round three begins)
  • 9pm: FURIA 9-13 Liquid (Inferno)
  • 10pm: G2 13-8 3DMax (Ancient)
  • 10pm: MOUZ 10-13 FaZe Clan (Inferno)
  • 11pm: Vitality 2-0 MIBR (Vitality qualify for Playoffs)
    • 13-3 on Mirage
    • 13-5 on Anubis
  • 11pm: GamerLegion 2-1 Wildcard (Wildcard are eliminated)
    • 10-13 on Dust 2
    • 13-10 on Ancient
    • 13-5 on Anubis

Friday, Dec. 6

  • 2am: BIG 1-2 paiN (BIG are eliminated)
    • 10-13 on Vertigo
    • 13-11 on Dust 2
    • 6-13 on Mirage
  • 2am: The MongolZ 2-1 HEROIC (TheMongolZ qualify for playoffs)
    • 8-13 on Mirage
    • 19-17 on Anubis
    • 13-6 on Ancient
  • 9pm: MOUZ 2-0 3DMAX (Swiss round four begins)
    • 13-11 on Dust 2
    • 13-11 on Nuke
  • 9pm: G2 2-0 FaZe Clan
    • 13-4 on Inferno
    • 13-3 on Mirage

Saturday, Dec. 7

  • 12am: MIBR 1-2 Liquid
    • 2-13 on Mirage
    • 13-10 on Nuke
    • 5-13 on Anubis
  • 12am: Natus Vincere 2-0 GamerLegion
    • 16-3 on Nuke
    • 13-9 on Mirage
  • 3am: Spirit 2-1 HEROIC
    • 16-14 on Ancient
    • 10-13 on Mirage
    • 13-7 on Dust 2
  • 3am: FURIA 2-1 paiN
    • 11-13 on Vertigo
    • 13-9 on Mirage
    • 13-11 on Inferno
  • 9pm: MIBR 0-2 MOUZ (Swiss round five begins)
    • 5-13 on Mirage
    • 6-13 on Nuke

Sunday, Dec. 8

  • 12am: NAVI 1-2 HEROIC
    • 3-13 on Mirage
    • 13-5 on Nuke
    • 9-13 on Ancient
  • 3am: FURIA 1-2 FaZe
    • 13-6 on Inferno
    • 9-13 on Dust 2
    • 10-13 on Mirage

Perfect World Shanghai CS2 Major Opening Stage schedule and results

Friday, Nov. 29

  • 9pm: FURIA 8-13 GamerLegion (Vertigo)
  • 9pm: Virtus.pro 7-13 MIBR (Ancient)
  • 10pm: Liquid 13-10 Cloud9 (Ancient)
  • 10pm: Complexity 6-13 FlyQuest (Anubis)
  • 11pm: BIG 13-9 Passion UA (Mirage)
  • 11pm: Fnatic 13-11 Wildcard (Mirage)

Saturday, Nov. 30

  • 12am: The MongolZ 13-2 Rare Atom (Anubis)
  • 12am: paiN 13-5 Imperial Esports (Dust 2)
  • 1am: BIG 5-13 FlyQuest (Nuke) (Swiss round two begins)
  • 1am: Fnatic 5-13 Cloud9 (Ancient)
  • 2am: MongolZ 13-6 MIBR (Ancient)
  • 2am: Complexity 9-13 Passion UA (Anubis)
  • 3am: Liquid 13-10 Wildcard (Inferno)
  • 3am: Virtus.pro 13-4 Rare Atom (Anubis)
  • 4am: paiN 10-13 GamerLegion (Nuke)
  • 4am: FURIA 13-11 Imperial (Anubis)
  • 9pm: BIG 13-11 VP (Vertigo) (Swiss round three begins)
  • 9pm: MIBR 5-13 Passion UA (Mirage)
  • 10pm: FURIA 16-14 Wildcard (Vertigo)
  • 10pm: paiN 13-11 Cloud9 (Anubis)
  • 11pm: Liquid 2-1 FlyQuest (Liquid qualify for the Elimination Stage)
    • 5-13 on Inferno
    • 13-9 on Anubis
    • 13-1 on Nuke
  • 11pm: Rare Atom 2-1 Fnatic (Fnatic are eliminated)
    • 10-13 on Ancient
    • 13-10 on Inferno
    • 13-4 on Vertigo

Sunday, Dec. 1

  • 2am: GamerLegion 0-2 MongolZ (MongolZ qualify for the Elimination Stage)
    • 5-13 on Mirage
    • 2-13 on Anubis
  • 2am: Complexity 2-0 Imperial (Imperial are eliminated)
    • 13-4 on Inferno
    • 13-5 on Ancient
  • 9pm: BIG 1-2 FURIA (FURIA qualify for the Elimination Stage) (Swiss round four begins)
    • 13-5 on Nuke
    • 11-13 on Mirage
    • 3-13 on Dust 2
  • 9pm: MIBR 2-1 Rare Atom (MIBR are eliminated)
    • 13-9 on Inferno
    • 11-13 on Anubis
    • 13-4 on Ancient

Monday, Dec. 2

  • 12am: FlyQuest 0-2 paiN (paiN qualify for the Elimination Stage)
    • 14-16 on Vertigo
    • 6-13 on Inferno
  • 12am: Cloud9 0-2 Complexity (Cloud9 are eliminated)
    • 13-16 on Vertigo
    • 8-13 on Ancient
  • 3am: GamerLegion 2-1 Passion UA (GamerLegion qualify for the Elimination Stage)
    • 13-6 on Inferno
    • 5-13 on Mirage
    • 13-9 on Ancient
  • 3am: Wildcard 2-1 Virtus.pro (Virtus.pro are eliminated)
    • 10-13 on Ancient
    • 13-7 on Inferno
    • 13-8 on Anubis
  • 9pm: BIG 2-1 Complexity (BIG advance to the Elimination Stage) (Swiss round five begins)
    • 5-13 on Anubis
    • 13-9 on Ancient
    • 13-9 on Dust 2

Tuesday, Dec. 3

  • 12am: MIBR 2-0 FlyQuest (MIBR qualify for the Elimination Stage)
    • 13-4 on Nuke
    • 13-5 on Inferno
  • 3am: Wildcard 2-1 Passion UA (Wildcard qualify for the Elimination Stage)
    • 13-6 on Inferno
    • 6-13 on Mirage
    • 16-14 on Ancient

Perfect World Shanghai CS2 Major standings

ZywOo, a CS2 player for Vitality, cheers after winning a round at ESL Pro League Season 19.
Will ZywOo claim his second Major in career? Photo by Igor Bezborodov via ESL

Like in every Swiss System, teams with three wins advance to the next stage, while the ones with three losses are eliminated. Since both elimination and advancement matches have higher stakes, they are played in a BO3 format.

Perfect World Shanghai CS2 Major Elimination Stage standings

Result Team
3-0 Vitality (Qualified for playoffs)
3-0 The MongolZ (Qualified for playoffs)
3-1 G2 Esports (Qualified for playoffs)
3-1 Team Liquid (Qualified for playoffs)
3-1 Spirit (Qualified for playoffs)
3-2 HEROIC (Qualified for playoffs)
3-2 FaZe Clan (Qualified for playoffs)
3-2 MOUZ (Qualified for playoffs)
2-3 FURIA (Eliminated)
2-3 MIBR (Eliminated)
2-3 Natus Vincere (Eliminated)
1-3 GamerLegion (Eliminated)
1-3 3DMAX (Eliminated)
1-3 paiN Gaming (Eliminated)
0-3 Wildcard (Eliminated)
0-3 BIG (Eliminated)

Perfect World Shanghai CS2 Major Opening Stage standings

Result Team
3-0 Team Liquid (Qualified)
3-0 The MongolZ (Qualified)
3-1 FURIA Esports (Qualified)
3-1 paiN (Qualified)
3-1 GamerLegion (Qualified)
3-2 MIBR (Qualified)
3-2 BIG (Qualified)
3-2 Wildcard (Qualified)
2-3 Passion UA (Eliminated)
2-3 FlyQuest (Eliminated)
2-3 Complexity (Eliminated)
1-3 Virtus.pro (Eliminated)
1-3 Cloud9 (Eliminated)
1-3 Rare Atom (Eliminated)
0-3 Imperial Esports (Eliminated)
0-3 Fnatic (Eliminated)

Where to watch Perfect World Shanghai CS2 Major

Following the action in Shanghai is easier than you think. All games are livestreamed on PGL’s channels, which you can find on Twitch under PGL and PGL_CS2, with plenty of co-streamers broadcasting the matches as well. If you’re looking for a broadcast that isn’t in English, there should be plenty. Try looking for the biggest local esports broadcaster who probably acquired the rights to stream the tournament live.