FlyQuest, The MongolZ, Team Liquid and GamerLegion all picked up a pair of wins on Saturday to begin the Opening Stage of the Perfect World Shanghai Major in China.
Sixteen teams are competing in the Opening Stage, which runs through Tuesday. The top eight will move on to the elimination stage, set to start on Thursday and end on Dec. 8, while the other eight squads will be eliminated.
The Swiss System format is being utilized for the Opening Stage, meaning that teams are required to go through five rounds.
Round 1 matchups were chosen via “Next Major Slot” rankings. Winners of those matches are designated as “high” teams for the second round, with the losers getting a “low” tag.
In the third round, teams branch off into groups once again. Those that are 2-0 are now in the “high” division, while any 0-2 challengers are in the “low” division. There is also a “mid” division for the 1-1 teams.
Each team then plays an opponent within their group that they have not yet faced. Winners of high-group matches get to go right to the elimination stage. Losers of low-group matches get eliminated.
Only 2-1 and 1-2 teams remain in the fourth round, and the former lands in the “high” group while the latter lands in the “low” group. Teams once again face a new foe within their group, with high-group winners moving on and low-group losers getting bounced.
In the fifth and final round, the remaining teams face off against opponents they haven’t seen yet. Winners move on, losers don’t.
Seeding from the second round on is based off performance and teams’ initial seeds. Any matches with advancement or elimination on the line are best-of-three, while all other matches are winner-take-all.
FlyQuest beat Complexity Gaming 13-6, then topped BIG 13-5 in the second round to reach the high matches of the third round. That’s where they will face Team Liquid, 13-10 winners over Cloud9 (Round 1) and Wildcard (Round 2).
The MongolZ downed Rare Atom (13-2) and MIBR (13-6). GamerLegion got the best of FURIA Esports (13-8) and paiN Gaming (13-10).
Cloud9, Passion UA, Virtus.pro and FURIA Esports all won their second-round low matches to reach the mid-tier of Round 3, joining the teams that fell to FlyQuest, The MongolZ, Team Liquid and GamerLegion in the second round.
Rare Atom, Fnatic, Complexity Gaming and Imperial Esports each went 0-2 on Saturday to fall into the low matches of Round 3.
Playoffs of the Perfect World Shanghai Major run from Dec. 12-15. The winning team will receive $500,000 of the $1.25 million prize pool.
–Field Level Media
