FaZe Completes The Comeback To Eliminate Vitality From Shanghai Major

The Perfect World Shanghai Major has been a wild ride for Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) esports fans, with favorites NAVI getting eliminated early as a prime example. The second day of the Major Championship's Playoffs Stage didn't disappoint either, as G2 Esports eliminated HEROIC in a dramatic reverse sweep that required overtime on the final map to settle. Then, the last Quarterfinals match took place between FaZe Clan and Team Vitality.

In case you want to catch up with the first Quarterfinals matches, check out our full match reports below.

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Let's take a look at what went down between Team Vitality and FaZe Clan in the Quarterfinals best-of-three match at the Shanghai Major.

Vitality vs. FaZe Match Report | Shanghai Major Results

On FaZe Clan's map pick of Nuke, it was Team Vitality on the CT side that got off to a strong start, with an 8-4 first-half advantage. One of my favorite moments was when Lotan "Spinx" Giladi for Vitality scored a 4K in the 7th round, making it 7-0 before FaZe Clan started to recover.

Team Vitality didn't slow down much at the start of the second half on the T side, quickly gaining a 10-5 lead and putting pressure on FaZe Clan's economy. 

In the 16th round, Finn "karrigan" Andersen's men stabilized a bit, pulling one back before Team Vitality retaliated with vigor for an 11-6 lead. FaZe Clan's force buy gamble in the 18th didn't pay off, breaking their economy and allowing Team Vitality to win the 19th, closing out Nuke with a convincing 13-6 victory.

On Vitality's map pick, Mirage, Dan "apEX" Madesclaire's squad got off to a strong start on the T side, winning the Pistol Round and converting with ease. However, FaZe Clan took the first rifle round, putting themselves on the board, and Vitality quickly retaliated with a win of their own. Early on, Mirage, the score was 3-1 in favor of Vitality.

Vitality extended their lead to 4-1 before FaZe Clan pushed back hard in the 6th round, scoring a relatively clean win by losing only one player. FaZe then forced the issue in the 7th round to damage Vitality's economy enough to require an eco, which FaZe converted for a 4-4 score.

Robin "ropz" Kool continued to put up a robust performance for FaZe Clan, finding those critical opening picks time and time again as they extended their lead to 6-4 on the CT side of Mirage. As teams switched sides, the score was 7-5 in favor of FaZe Clan, a close one considering that's on the CT side of Mirage.

On the T side of Mirage, FaZe Clan picked up the Pistol Round and converted, before Team Vitality stepped up to the plate to score three in a row, making the score 9-8 in favor of FaZe.

In an important gun round (18th), it was David "frozen" Čerňanský to step up for FaZe Clan, scoring three kills and securing the round for a 10-8 lead.

FaZe Clan put their foot down with two quick kills in the 19th round to force Vitality into a save and repeated the process in the 20th round to put themselves on match point with a 12-8 score. With a 3K from frozen, FaZe Clan secured victory on Mirage with a score of 13-8, forcing the third and final map, Anubis.

At the start of Anubis, Vitality picked up the Pistol Round on the T side and then converted for an early 2-0 lead against a full eco, then pushed their advantage to 3-0 before FaZe Clan responded with three rounds in a row to tie up the score.

With a beautiful 3K from ropz in the 8th round, FaZe Clan extended their lead to 5-3, then broke Vitality's economy in the 9th and converted an eco for a 7-3 score in their favor. At the end of the first half of Anubis, the score was 8-4, with FaZe Clan in a solid lead.

As teams switched sides, FaZe Clan on the T side, and with a lot of momentum, picked up the Pistol and then another two rounds to take a commanding 11-4 lead before Vitality got their first round on the CT side.

Team Vitality strung together multiple rounds, with heroics from "The Chosen One" aka Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut, keeping his side in contention with a beautiful 3K in the 16th. Despite Vitality's efforts, FaZe Clan put themselves on match point with a 12-7 score.

FaZe Clan finished off Team Vitality with a 13-7 on Anubis, completing the reverse sweep with a 2-1 score and shocking the crowd.

Congratulations to FaZe Clan for winning the last Quarterfinal match of the Perfect World Shanghai Major and eliminating Team Vitality from the event. FaZe Clan will now face G2 Esports in the second Semifinals match on Saturday, 14 December 2024, for a spot in the grand finale!

Read More: Shanghai Major Playoffs Stage Pick'Em Challenge Predictions

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