Gen.G Gen.G Korea Unranked Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom (변상범) yoman Chae Young-moon (채영문) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태) defeated LEVIATÁN LEVIATÁN Latin America South Unranked Demon1 Max Mazanov tex Ian Botsch kiNgg Francisco Aravena C0M Corbin Lee nataNk Nathan Bocqueho 2-1, and Team Heretics Team Heretics Europe Unranked MiniBoo Dominykas Lukaševičius Wo0t Mert Alkan RieNs Enes Ecirli benjyfishy Benjamin David Fish Boo Ričardas Lukaševičius swept Dragon Ranger Gaming Dragon Ranger Gaming China Unranked Flex1n Lo Rui (罗瑞) nizhaoTZH Tang Zehao (唐哲昊) vo0kashu Ilya Ushakov Shion7 Zhang Haozhe (张昊泽) Cangshu Zheng Yujun (手郑宇峻) Nicc Shao Yi-qun (邵逸群) TvirusLuke Chen Cheng-ching SpiritZ1 Lin Dingyu (林定宇) 2-0 in their debut matches at Masters Shanghai. The Masters Madrid finalists got their first win of the Swiss stage, while Team Heretics finally got their first international series win of 2024.

Leviatán looked strong on their map pick, but Gen.G rallied back to win the next two maps convincingly. As for Team Heretics, they looked just as strong as they were regionally, defeating a DRG roster making their international debut.

Gen.G lose map one, roll over Leviatán next two

The map veto began with Leviatán picking Icebox and Gen.G picking Lotus, leaving Breeze as the potential third map.

Both teams began the series running Viper, Killjoy, and Jett, but the difference came with Gen.G opting for Gekko and KAY/O while Leviatán ran Sova and Harbor. This meant it was double smokes versus double initiator for this Icebox match. Leviatán started on attack and got the first pistol off mid-round patience.

Erick "aspas" Santos started hot, getting a 4K in round five to extend the early lead for Leviatán. Round six was a flawless thrifty for Gen.G, with a large coordination of utility stopping a plant on B site. The four different grenades that Gen.G had allowed for some aggressive flood retakes and easy kills, but the team was also not able to gain as much information as Leviatán could mid-round. The half ended 7-5 in favor of Leviatán, however, Gen.G recovered the half after going down 5-1.

Leviatán won the second pistol, putting them in a prime position to take the map. Gen.G were able to hit some shots, but the defense from Leviatán was too strong, melting any attempted attack on A site. Both Ian "tex" Botsch and aspas cleaned the map up, ending it at 13-7 to start the series up 1-0.

Lotus had both teams running mirror comps and Leviatán winning their third straight pistol round of the series. Gen.G looked better on their defense to start Lotus in comparison to Icebox, but Leviatán got their round wins by going to the C site. When aspas made one mistake with his ultimate, Gen.G took advantage to end the half up 7-5.

Gen.G were able to get their first pistol win of the series thanks to the unstoppable force of Kim "t3xture" Na-ra (김나라) and Kim "Karon" Won-tae (김원태). A 4K from t3xture put them up 11-5 and Gen.G closed it out with a perfect attack half to finish the map 13-5, tying the series.

Breeze was the return of Yoru and Astra for the Gen.G side, with t3xture back on the Jett duel against aspas. Leviatán were relying on Cypher to help slow down the attack side from Gen.G, and tex was crucial in their fourth pistol win in five attempts. Gen.G used their double duelists, especially their Yoru, to confuse and surprise Leviatán with some set plays. Astra was key in setting up stuns, while Yoru would try and capitalize with teleports or flashes. The more chaotic the round got, the better Gen.G were. Plus, their post-plant setup for B site was very well-practiced, with Sova and Viper lineups to prevent any defuse from happening.

Aspas was winning the Jett duel to help keep the half close, but the coordination from Gen.G was significant on their attack side. Down 8-4, Leviatán lost the second pistol round of the map. Kim "Meteor" Tae-oh (김태오) on Yoru was preventing Leviatán from taking open sites, teleporting in to support or playing aggressively alongside t3xture. The map ended 13-7, and Gen.G took the series 2-1.

With this win, Gen.G have earned their first win of the Swiss stage, while Leviatán will start the tournament with a loss.

Team Heretics sweep Dragon Ranger Gaming

The second match of the day was between the only EMEA returnee from Masters Madrid and the third seed from China. Team Heretics enter Masters Shanghai with Patryk "paTiTek" Fabrowski substituting in for Dominykas "MiniBoo" Lukaševičius, while DRG make their international debut.

The map veto started with DRG picking Icebox and Team Heretics picking Sunset, leaving Split as the potential third map.

Icebox had the teams running slightly different comps, with double initiator from Heretics and double smokes from DRG. The series began with DRG on attack and Team Heretics getting the first pistol round. Due to the roster change for Shanghai, Mert "Wo0t" Alkan swapped onto the Jett, putting paTiTek back on the initiator role. It looked to be the right choice as Heretics converted their bonus round, getting an early lead on defense. A hero moment from Ilya "vo0kashu" Ushakov almost swung the momentum in favor of DRG, yet every time DRG looked to engage on A site afterward, Wo0t just denied them with his Jett. Heretics ended up 8-4 at the half.

After winning the second pistol round of Icebox, Heretics ran away with the map. DRG were not able to get past the defensive setups of Benjamin "benjyfishy" David Fish and paTiTeK, leading to a 13-5 Heretics victory.

For Sunset, Team Heretics chose to go Raze instead of Neon due to their roster change. Heretics won a close pistol round and converted another bonus round. DRG needed to turn the momentum around, as another hero moment from DRG got them their first round. This time, it was Tang "nizhaoTZH" Zehao (唐哲昊) with a 3K, and soon after Shao "Nicc" Yi-qun (邵逸群) hit key shots to keep the half close.

DRG adapted better to Team Heretics than they did on Icebox, trying to re-clear specific areas on the map with mixed success. The half ended 7-5 for Heretics, with DRG in reach of a map win. However, a fourth straight pistol win and another bonus round conversion from Heretics pushed a comeback further out of reach. Wo0t was one-tapping DRG into dust, getting 27 kills on Sunset alone, totaling 41 across the series. Team Heretics closed the map out 13-5 with a perfect second half, sweeping DRG to start their Swiss stage run.

With this win, Team Heretics start 1-0 in the Swiss stage, while DRG will start down 0-1.