Natus Vincere, Team Vitality, MOUZ and FaZe Clan entered the RMR as the favourites to qualify for the Major with esports betting sites, and after two rounds of play, they are all in great position to advance.

#ShanghaiMajor2024 European RMR GroupA Second Round:
1-0 bracket: NaVi 13-5 SINNERS
0-1 bracket: ECLOT 13-11 GamerLegion

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— CS_PerfectWorld (@CS_PerfectWorld) November 17, 2024

NaVi, the world’s number one ranked Counter-Strike 2 team, defeated Fnatic 13-9 before producing a much more convincing performance in their 13-5 victory over SINNERS.

Valerij “b1t” Vakhovsjkyj was the top performer for NaVi, recording a 1.58 rating across the two maps, which has him situated as the fifth-best player at the RMR.

#ShanghaiMajor2024 Europe RMR GroupA second round:
1-0 bracket: Vitality 13-3 BetBoom
0-1 bracket: fnatic 13-3 Rebels

More Moments here: https://t.co/ng05IqwNa8 pic.twitter.com/Wo1lQbcM5u

— CS_PerfectWorld (@CS_PerfectWorld) November 17, 2024

Vitality cruised to victory against BetBoom Team in a 13-3 demolition, which was a good sign for fans of the Bees after they were pushed by GamerLegion in their opening match before going on to win 13-8.

Although Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut ended the second match as Vitality’s lowest-rated player, his massive 1.91 rating in the GamerLegion clash has him ranked as their top player.

#ShanghaiMajor2024 Europe RMR GroupA second round:
1-0 bracket: MOUZ 13-3 Sangal
0-1 bracket: Cloud9 13-5 Nemiga

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— CS_PerfectWorld (@CS_PerfectWorld) November 17, 2024

MOUZ sits atop the RMR standings with a 2-0 record and round difference of +20, following dominant 13-3 victories over both Nemiga Gaming and Sangal Esports, respectively.

ádám “torzsi” Torzsás is the highest-ranked player at the Europe A RMR, boasting an incredible 2.01 rating, two spots ahead of his teammate Dorian “xertioN” Berman, who owns an equally impressive rating of 1.71.

#ShanghaiMajor2024 Europe RMR GroupA second round:
1-0 bracket: FaZe 16-12 Falcons
0-1 bracket: SAW 13-8 UNiTY

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— CS_PerfectWorld (@CS_PerfectWorld) November 17, 2024

Notorious slow starters, FaZe Clan, have started strongly at the Europe A RMR by defeating Cloud9 13-8 in their opening fixture before grinding out a 16-12 victory over Team Falcons in overtime.

H?vard “rain” Nygaard has arrived in fine form in Shanghai, topping the server in both clashes for FaZe, with his dominant performance on Nuke being one of the major factors as to why his squad are in the 2-0 pool heading into day two.

NaVi will face MOUZ, and FaZe will clash with Vitality on Tuesday, with the winners of each best-of-three series securing their place in the Shanghai Major.

At the other end of the spectrum, GamerLegion, UNiTY esports, Rebels Gaming and Nemiga Gaming lost both of their opening matches and will face elimination on day two.

Meanwhile, Falcons, Cloud9, Sangal Esports, Dynamo Eclot, SAW, Fnatic, SINNERS Esports and BetBoom Team will compete in the final best-of-one matches on Tuesday, with each squad seeking to win their way into the 2-1 pool.

Tuesday’s Europe A RMR fixtures

• Cloud9 ($1.61) vs Sangal Esports ($2.20) @ 12pm CST
• SINNERS Esports ($2.20) vs Dynamo Eclot ($1.61) @ 12pm CST
• Team Falcons ($1.66) vs SAW ($2.10) @ 1pm CST
• Fnatic ($1.80) vs BetBoom Team ($1.90) @ 1pm CST
• Natus Vincere ($1.50) vs MOUZ ($2.50) @ 2pm CST
• Nemiga Gaming ($1.28) vs Rebels Gaming ($3.50) @ 2pm CST
• FaZe Clan ($2.62) vs Team Vitality ($1.44) @ 5pm CST
• GamerLegion ($1.30) vs UNiTY esports ($3.40) @ 5pm CST

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Natus Vincere enter the Perfect World Shanghai Major as the world’s best team, although they were knocked out of the BLAST Premier World Final in last place. As Fnatic are 33 places lower than NaVi in the world rankings and have struggled to contend in second-tier tournaments, it is hard to find many positives for them in this fixture.

Team Vitality will regain William “mezii” Merriman for the Europe RMR, and for the Major if they are to qualify, which will bring a completely different Vitality compared to the squad that finished in third-fourth place at the BLAST World Final. GamerLegion are still working things out after adding Sebastian “Tauson” Tauson Lindelof to the roster two months ago, so Vitality should have no issues in this matchup.

FaZe Clan have not lifted a trophy since April at IEM Chengdu, and there is plenty of talk about a potential roster change in the coming months. Somehow, Cloud9 are ranked as the world’s 66th best team heading into the Europe A RMR; however, if Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhaylov can rally his squad, there is no reason they can’t make the main event and do some damage on the way.

MOUZ are rated as an unbackable $1.16 chance with Counter-Strike betting sites to qualify for the Shanghai Major. While some will say Nemiga Gaming’s form is better than their odds suggest, they have been competing in second-tier events against much weaker teams. The 4.5-round line is very generous in favour of MOUZ.

SAW are in the midst of a four-game winning streak following their ESL Challenger Katowice 2024 triumph. Last time they met SINNERS, they claimed a 2-0 win and gave up just eight rounds across the two maps. SINNERS are one of the lowest-ranked teams in this RMR, and if they can record one victory throughout the event, it will be seen as a successful trip to China.

Team Falcons have recorded eight straight losses in the last two months. The addition of Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev has not changed their fortunes, and it is hard to see them qualifying for the Major unless their form reverses completely. At the other end of the spectrum, Dynamo Eclot have won nine of their last 13 matches and could be poised to spring an upset.

BetBoom Team are fresh off their YaLLa Compass Fall 2024 triumph and will put their three-game win streak on the line in the opening round. UNiTY were knocked out of that event early in the Contenders phase, but that poor result followed a decent third-place finish at the United21 League Season 20. Despite the odds, this clash could go either way, so take the plus money on the underdogs.

Sangal Esports and Rebels Gaming have met four times throughout 2024, with Rebels claiming the first two meetings before Sangal produced two dominant victories in their most recent clashes. Sangal have not played an official match since claiming the ESL Challenger League Season 48 Europe title in late October, while Rebels are fresh off European Pro League Season 20. With more time to bootcamp and study their upcoming opponent, back the favourites to win again.

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