Less than 24 hours before the official start of the second stage of the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024—the Elimination Stage—all eyes are on the so-called “big dogs,” or to rephrase that, the hegemons of professional Counter-Strike, and their storylines. These narratives could, most likely should, and probably will be the ones of greatest interest to fans and pundits around the globe. NiKo and m0NESY’s potential last event in G2 jerseys, FaZe Clan’s struggles that might lead to roster changes after the season, Spirit’s hunt for a Major trophy and their fourth title of the year, MOUZ’s 14th Major in the organization’s history—which could prove they deserve a spot at the “round table of winners”—and last but not least, NAVI’s dream of becoming the third team in Counter-Strike history to win back-to-back Major tournaments, all add to the anticipation.
However, beneath the shiny, big headlines and just outside the spotlight devoted to the elite, there are teams lying in wait. These are the ones whose blood, sweat, and tears often go unnoticed—until their moment arrives. They are the underdogs: hungrier, angrier, more motivated, and willing to give it their all to prove they should not be underestimated. They aim to replicate what teams like GamerLegion, Apeks, Eternal Fire, Into the Breach, and Monte have done before them—perhaps even going a step further. Today, we are here to discuss the true dark horses of the Shanghai Major Elimination Stage.
#1 – Heroic
The first team on the list is actually one that didn’t have to fight its way through the Opening Stage of the Major—a team that not only has the potential to go through to the Playoff stage but could even go deeper than the Quarter-Finals—Heroic.
As of today, Heroic is ranked #7 on HLTV and Valve’s world ranking, resulting in the team being directly invited to the Elimination Stage, although after going through Group B of the European RMR with a 3-1 score. But with their Bo1 wins over PARIVISION and NIP, a Bo3 victory versus Passion UA, and only one Bo1 loss against BIG—they probably would have been here either way.
This is a team that has been of particular interest to many, including the author of this article. As of today, 11 months have passed since the Norwegian organization’s management decided to start a new chapter, moving away from the full Danish lineup led by Casper “cadiaN” Møller, which got Heroic to four consecutive Major Playoff finishes, including one Grand Final (2nd place), to an international team. At first, things didn’t seem to click. Regardless of the wave of enthusiasm that rushed in with the arrivals of ex-ENCE duo Guy “NertZ” Iluz and Eetu “sAw” Saha, along with up-and-coming Macedonian IGL Damjan “kyxsan” Stoilkovski and Danish AWPer Nico “nicoodoz” Tamjidi, who joined TeSeS and sjuush, the team never seemed to gel—or at least not instantly. A Quarter-Final finish at IEM Katowice 2024, a 12-14th finish at the PGL CS2 Copenhagen Major, and a 5-6th finish at IEM Dallas were some of the highlights of a rather shaky first half of the year—a lack of success that ultimately resulted in the removal of nicoodoz and the addition of ex-OG and Spirit AWP star Abdul “degster” Gasanov, who had been inactive for more than a year.
After degster’s addition, however, Heroic still didn’t look like a properly functional team. Visa issues resulted in the AWPer’s absence from his second and third events (BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2024 and IEM Cologne), which meant ESL Pro League S20 in September was only degster’s second LAN event with Heroic, despite being on the team for four months. Spending the first five months of the year with an AWPer who got only 25.29% of his kills with “The Big Green,” and then signing a new one who the team had to play and practice without for the next three months, meant that, funnily enough, Heroic’s captain kyxsan confirmed everyone on the team felt like their 2024 started in September.
A Playoff finish in EPL S20, a 3/4th place at IEM Rio 2024, and silver medals at the Elisa Masters Espoo 2024 and Thunderpick World Championship 2024 Finals, with a much-improved LAN performance by the aggressive pieces NertZ (1.23 rating) and TeSeS (1.13 rating), definitely gave Heroic fans a reason to be hopeful, despite the two lost finals and degster’s inconsistent performance.
Regardless of anything that has happened so far in 2024, Heroic’s current form seems to be going in one direction only—and that is up. With sjuush still being one of the most underrated role/support players in the game, TeSeS looking sharper with every single game, NertZ being undeniably a world-class rifler, kyxsan’s dynamic yet structured approach, sAw’s expertise, and degster’s sometimes high contingency coefficient but enormous skill set—Heroic could definitely be a team to not only make it out of the Elimination Stage but even deal some serious damage in the Playoffs.
#2 – The MongolZ
It would be poetic—wouldn’t it? The first Counter-Strike Major in Asia to have an Asian team in the Top 8, not by some miracle, but because of years and years of work, determination, countless losses, and lessons. There is that electric feeling in the air—that sensation that the 2024 Shanghai Major could indeed be a special one for an entire continent, and the reason for that could be The MongolZ.
As of right now, The MongolZ are ranked #5 in the Valve ranking and #9 in the HLTV World Ranking—the highest they have ever been, and it’s not without reason.
2024 has been a special year for this Mongolian side. Starting it off with a top-16 finish at the first Major of the year—the PGL Copenhagen Major 2024, reaching playoffs in EPL 19 & 20, IEM Cologne 2024, IEM Rio, Elisa Masters Espoo, and Skyesports Championship 2024, and even winning four LAN events, including the $850,000 Thunderpick World Championship 2024 in October and the $400,000 YaLLa Compass LAN in June. The MongolZ have played 17 LAN events in 2024—a record in the organization’s history—banking a fortune of $986,347 from prize pools, which puts them in the №4 spot out of all teams in 2024, right after NAVI (1st), Team Spirit (2nd), and G2 Esports (3rd), ahead of teams like Team Vitality, MOUZ, and FaZe Clan. But how did it all start?
Unlike Heroic, The MongolZ did not undergo a full roster rebuild at the start of the season—quite the opposite. This five-man lineup has been together since September 2023, when 18-year-old Munkhbold “Senzu” Azbayar arrived from NKT to replace Chinguun “hasteka” Bayarmaa; however, the rest of the team has been together for more than a year and a half.
One of the biggest obstacles that Asian teams have always had to overcome—but few have done successfully—is the lack of official and LAN events. It’s safe to say that, in the history of the region, there have been other teams that have shown potential. Names like TYLOO, who not only qualified for four Majors in CS:GO but also became the first Asian team to reach the Top 16 at one. And yet—with all their potential, LAN experience, playoff participations, and efforts—they could not achieve what The MongolZ did in the last 12 months.
With the phenomenal firepower and dynamic style of calling by Garidmagnai “bLitz” Byambasuren, who is also the oldest player on the team at 23 years of age, and the lights-out performances of 22-year-old AWPer Usukhbayar “910” Banzragch and 18-year-old rifler Munkhbold “Senzu” Azbayar, The MongolZ are not just a team with individual skill that can shoot hard in the server. No, they are one of the first Asian teams to have the systems, protocols, and fundamentals to compete with some of the best in the world—but firepower is not necessarily a problem either.
After losing just 15 rounds in total over the four maps they played in the Opening Stage and winning their last 10 matches in a row (3x Bo1s and 7x Bo3s), The MongolZ are not only one of the teams that look ready to pull off one or two upsets. Quite the opposite—they are looking like a team that has the brains and teeth to go toe-to-toe with some of the best and show that Asian Counter-Strike deserves to host a Major tournament.
