The Shanghai Major winners started their new campaign in perfect fashion with a simultaneously straightforward and impressive run through the BLAST Bounty gauntlet, defeating Eternal Fire in the grand final in a perfect prelude for IEM Katowice.
For once, it wasn’t the donk show, or at least not entirely. This time, it was sh1ro who put Team Spirit on his shoulders with a +39 KD performance in a four-map series where the CIS side always looked superior to their Turkish rivals, who couldn’t quite replicate their impressive form from the previous rounds in this most important matchup.
Both sides claimed important scalps on their way to the grand final—Spirit took out NAVI in convincing fashion in the semis, while EF took down Vitality and G2 to earn their spot in the final two—but the very first half of the series has set the tone here, with Spirit racing to a 9-3 lead on the CT side of Anubis. Impressively enough, EF completed a full comeback despite facing eight map points, then converting overtime with a strong T-side performance.
It was as good as it got for woxic and company in the series, though, as straightforward wins and single-digit round counts followed on Nuke, Dust 2, and Mirage, including some of the usual stupendous donk highlights and an eventual eco round win to clinch the trophy.
Nevertheless, both teams will have a lot of positives to look forward to heading into IEM Katowice 2025, the first S-Tier competition of the calendar year. Eternal Fire start their campaign in the Play-In Stage and they are heavy favorites in their opening matchup against Complexity. Meanwhile, Team Spirit await their challengers later down the line, having been directly seeded into the Group Stage, with a potential rematch against NAVI looming large in Group B, which also features The MongolZ and MOUZ.
Many CS fans will remember how donk made his mark at last year’s IEM Katowice, posting sky-high rankings en route to the team’s first memorable victory at the biggest stages of the esport, breaking individual records along the way. Based on what we have seen at BLAST Bounty, a repeat is definitely on the cards for the Major title holders.
