Can Spirit live up to the hype at the PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen?
It's rare that a team excites the Counter-Strike world as much as Spirit currently does.
Their win at IEM Katowice 2024 was dominant. They lost just one map in the entire event to NAVI. Not only that, but that event also saw donk break records as he closed out the event with an incredible 1.70 HLTV rating.
donk may steal the headlines, but Spirit are far more than a one-man army. sh1ro, zont1x, chopper, and magixx all contribute to what is shaping up to be one of the most formidable rosters of all time.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenThe only question: Can they live up to the hype at the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024?
Favourites don't always succeed
Counter-Strike Majors are notorious for providing huge upsets, and the first CS2 Major will no doubt be no different.
Favourites often see themselves fall short under the brightest lights, and we've seen that repeatedly during the CS:GO Majors.
With Spirit having the start to 2024 they have done, they will enter the Major as the undisputed favourites. In the eyes of many fans, the way Spirit won Katowice will make anything less than winning the Major a failure, but does history suggest that this is even likely in the first place?
Looking at the final CS:GO Major, the favourites, Vitality, did end up victorious, but many other teams didn't enjoy the same luck.
The winners of IEM Katowice 2023, G2, failed even to make the playoffs. NAVI suffered the same fate. Heroic, who many thought would at least be in the grand final against Vitality, were upset in the semi-finals by GamerLegion.
The IEM Rio Major 2022 also saw the favourites wind up disappointed. It was FaZe Clan at that event, and they were unceremoniously eliminated from the event with a 0-3 record in the Legends Stage. Oh, and Heroic fell short in the grand final, too.
Photo: Michal KonkolGoing back even further, no one will forget Cloud9 overcoming vast favourites FaZe in the grand final of the ELEAGUE Boston Major, and in the Major before that, Gambit eliminated the favourites Astralis on the road to become the champions of the PGL Krakow Major.
A special team
Spirit aren't like a lot of those teams mentioned.
Heroic's former team were notorious for coming up short in big games, Boston FaZe featured a NiKo who still hadn't gotten over his stage fright, Krakow Astralis were beginning to enter the stage in their roster where it was clear a change was needed.
Not a single one of those factors will affect Spirit. They've already proven they can handle the biggest games in Katowice, and given that sh1ro only joined in December, there's no question about whether or not this lineup may need to make a change anytime soon.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenWe've already spoken about donk, so let's focus on other team members, starting with sh1ro.
When it was announced sh1ro would be departing Cloud9, questions were raised as to how they would ever recover from losing an AWPer as great as he is.
It's a testament to his greatness. Ever since he rose to prominence in the online era alongside his then-Gambit teammates, he has been regarded as one of the best AWPers in the world, and he is proving it once more as he elevates Spirit to new heights.
It's rare for a team to have a single star as great as donk or sh1ro, Spirit are fortunate to have two.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenAnd that's without mentioning the supportive cast.
Spirit has a young player in zont1x who consistently proves himself to be one of the most dependable third stars in the business.
Third stars are a must for all teams who hope to be great, and zont1x's 1.15 HLTV rating in the past three months proves he is one of the best in the business.
Finally, there is chopper and magixx, the two experienced mainstays of Spirit. The duo have been together through thick and thin, and chopper has now masterminded Spirit through multiple rebounds.
They're two names that will likely become the unsung heroes of this roster, but their contributions should not go unnoticed.
Success is inevitable
Whether it's at the PGL Major Copenhagen or at another Major down the line, multiple players on this team will undoubtedly go on to win a Major together.
In fact, we wouldn't at all be surprised if they all do so together.
Spirit's team is set apart from their rivals because of the incredible amount of firepower they possess, and such raw skill is hard to bring down even on a day where the preparation or teamplay may have gone awry.
Photo: Michal KonkolTheir two stars' combined abilities can only be compared to the likes of NiKo and m0NESY and Spinx and ZywOo, yet the strength of sh1ro and donk may be greater. When you factor in the remaining trio, there isn't another team on the planet that looks to be a favourite against Spirit.
Living up to the hype and winning a Major the first will be a tough task for Spirit, but if they play like they have thus far in 2024, we could see one of the most dominant Major performances in history.