BIG move to Elimination Stage at Complexity’s expense

Complexity were unable to realize their dreams of turning a 0-2 start into a 3-2 finish.

BIG have secured their place in the Elimination Stage of the Perfect World Shanghai Major, taking down Complexity 2-1 after enduring a tough loss in the first map of the series.

With this win, BIG return to the second stage of a Major for the first time since IEM Rio 2022, when the German side still featured the likes of Nils “⁠k1to⁠” Gruhne, Elias “⁠s1n⁠” Stein, and Fatih “⁠gob b⁠” Dayik among their ranks. Conversely, for Jonathan “⁠EliGE⁠” Jablonowski, this loss marks the first time the American rifler has failed to make the top 16 of a Major since PGL Major Krakow 2017.

BIG impressed in their Europe RMR B campaign to qualify for the Shanghai Major, racking up a 3-0 record that seemingly secured Johannes “⁠tabseN⁠” Wodarz’s men a direct spot in the Elimination Stage. Much to their dismay, however, it was announced mid-tournament that the Elimination Stage invites would be allocated based on Valve’s Regional Standings, shipping BIG to the Opening Stage despite their commendable efforts in the RMR.

Despite the setback, BIG fought tooth and nail in the Opening Stage to claim their place among the top 16, besting Passion UA and Virtus.pro while enduring losses to FlyQuest and FURIA before securing their spot with their victory over Complexity.

The 2-2 matchup kicked off on Complexity’s map pick of Anubis, where the North Americans got off to a flying start thanks to stellar showings from EliGE and Håkon “⁠hallzerk⁠” Fjærli, allowing them to easily scoop up their map pick with a 13-5 scoreline.

Although they endured a tough start to the series, BIG rebounded on their map pick of Ancient with a 13-9 victory, shutting out Complexity’s offense after a back-and-forth first half.

The decider of Dust2 saw a fairly competitive first half, but BIG soon wrestled away control of the map once on the T-side. This was despite the best efforts of hallzerk, who mustered an astounding 1.83 rating as he attempted to drag his teammates into the Elimination Stage. Unfortunately for Complexity, hallzerk’s heroics were simply not enough, as BIG locked down Dust2 13-9 to book their spot in the second stage of the Major.