Four teams get off to a great start at the Perfect World Shanghai Major – Field Level Media – Professional solutions for sports content

FlyQuest, The MongolZ, Team Liquid and GamerLegion all picked up back-to-back wins on Saturday to open the opening stages of the Perfect World Shanghai Major in China.

Sixteen teams will compete in the opening phase, which runs until Tuesday. The top eight teams advance to the elimination phase, which begins Thursday and ends Dec. 8, while the other eight teams are eliminated.

The Swiss system format will be used for the opening phase, meaning teams will have to complete five rounds.

First round matchups were selected via Next Major Slot rankings. The winners of these games are classified as “high quality” teams for the second round, while the losers are assigned a “low” team.

In the third round, the teams divide into groups again. Those who are 2-0 are now in the “high” division, while all 0-2 challengers are in the “low” division. There is also a “middle” division for the 1-1 teams.

Each team then plays within its group against an opponent it has not yet played against. Winners of games in high groups can advance directly to the elimination phase. Losers of lower group games are eliminated.

In the fourth round, only 2-1 and 1-2 teams remain, and the former ends up in the “high” group while the latter ends up in the “low” group. The teams once again face a new opponent within their group, with the winners of the upper groups advancing and the losers of the lower groups dropping out.

In the fifth and final round, the remaining teams face opponents they have not yet faced. Winners move on, losers don’t.

Seeding from the second round onwards is based on the teams’ performance and initial seedings. All games involving promotion or elimination are best-of-three, while all other games are winner-take-all.

FlyQuest defeated Complexity Gaming 13-6, then edged BIG 13-5 in the second round to advance to the top matches of the third round. There they meet Team Liquid, who won 13:10 against Cloud9 (round 1) and Wildcard (round 2).

The MongolZ defeated Rare Atom (13-2) and MIBR (13-6). GamerLegion prevailed against FURIA Esports (13-8) and paiN Gaming (13-10).

Cloud9, Passion UA, Virtus.pro and FURIA Esports all won their low matches in the second round and advanced to the middle bracket of the third round. They joined the teams that lost in the second round to FlyQuest, The MongolZ, Team Liquid and GamerLegion.

Rare Atom, Fnatic, Complexity Gaming and Imperial Esports each fell 0-2 on Saturday, landing them in the lower brackets of the third round.

The Perfect World Shanghai Major playoffs will take place from December 12th to 15th. The winning team will receive $500,000 from the $1.25 million prize pool.

–Field level media