The Tier 1 CS2 2024 calendar has come to an end, with Team Spirit defeating Spirit to claim their first-ever Major title at the PW Shanghai Major 2024. They were made to fight for their title every step of the way, needing all three maps to complete an epic victory, and almost throwing a huge lead on the deciding map.
So, how did Team Spirit achieve their iconic win? Here are the key talking points from the PW Shanghai Major 2024 Grand Final.
donk rules the roost
Credit: Perfect World
If there was any player who deserved to win this Major, it was donk. The young prodigy put on an absolute clinic on all three maps of the Shanghai Major Grand Final, and he has been rewarded with a Major trophy and MVP. He is the youngest ever to win both, breaking the previous record set by Kjaerbye. By the numbers, donk also put on the greatest Major performance of all time across the entire tournament, eclipsing s1mple’s Stockholm figures in 2021.
He wasn’t alone, here. This was a life-game from magixx, without whom Spirit would sit as comfortable runner-ups. It was a flashback to 2021-2022 magixx, which hasn’t been seen too often of late. All of sh1ro, zont1x, and chopper struggled at times, but all three had their moments of brilliance to secure key rounds. However, the narrative will always come back around to donk, who has undoubtedly completed the greatest rookie year Counter-Strike has ever seen.
Another Major final loss for karrigan
Of four Major Finals, karrigan still has just one win to his name. However, you certainly wouldn’t put any of the blame on him here – his calling was solid, matched with equal gusto by Spirit’s brute force individual brilliance.
Credit: Perfect World
He almost called FaZe to a complete comeback from 12:5 down on the final map. There were some truly incredible clutches, including a remarkable 4vs2 clutch at 12:10 that, if FaZe had won the Major, would almost certainly have been graffiti-worthy. Seeing karrigan’s tears at the end of such a slug-fest was extremely sad, but we know he’s always going to bounce back. These are the emotions of Counter-Strike – it’s why we love this beautiful game.
Spirit dodge roster changes
There has been plenty of talk of potential Team Spirit roster changes before the PW Shanghai Major 2024. How on Earth do you ponder making changes after this? Yes, kyousuke is waiting in the wings in Spirit Academy, and Perfecto remains available amid a potential huge upcoming CIS roster shuffle, but a Major win isn’t something to be scoffed at.
Credit: Perfect World
We can say certain players should have done better at certain moments, but the reality is that this is a Spirit team capable of winning the Major. With this win, I have to imagine all talk of this will be totally scuppered. Let’s see more of this Team Spirit team in 2025!