Team Spirit outlasted FaZe Clan on Sunday to win the Perfect World Shanghai Major in China and the $500,000 first-place prize.
The teams split the first two rounds, with Spirit winning 13-8 on Nuke and FaZe Clan taking Ancient 13-6.
On Dust II, Spirit jumped out to an 8-4 lead but held off a surging opponent for a 13-11 triumph.
“We’ve fought, we’ve struggled, and we’ve pushed ourselves to the limit — and now we stand as champions. The victory we’ve worked so hard for, the one that seemed just out of reach, is finally OURS,” the team posted to social media after taking the title.
“Our beloved fans, thank you for being with us every step of the way. The season ends here, but we’ll be back next year, stronger than ever.”
Danil “donk” Kryshkovets and Boris “magixx” Vorobiev were dominant for the all-Russian Team Spirit squad, with donk posting 69 kills and a plus-25 kills-to-death differential and magixx contributing 69 and and a plus-30, respectively.
FaZe Clan earned $170,000 as the runner-up of the $1.25 million Counter-Strike tournament, which began Nov. 30 with 24 teams entered.
Perfect World Shanghai Major results:
1. $500,000 — Team Spirit
2. $170,000 — FaZe Clan
3-4. $80,000 — MOUZ, G2 Esports
5-8. $45,000 — The MongolZ, Team Liquid, HEROIC, Team Vitality
9-11. $20,000 — FURIA Esports, MIBR, Natus Vincere
12-14. $20,000 — GamerLegion, 3DMAX, paiN Gaming
15-16. $20,000 — Wildcard, BIG
17-19. $10,000 — FlyQuest, Passion UA, Complexity Gaming
20-22. $10,000 — Virtus.pro, Cloud9, Rare Atom
23-24. $10,000 — Imperial Esports, Fnatic
–Field Level Media
