Maybe deko was right - sh1ro might as well quit.

The headline result of the first few games in Paris is one nobody saw coming. Nobody but one half of the only Counter-Strike podcast worth its salt, anyway. Neither you nor donk had probably heard of JiJieHao before Wednesday, and yet, Spirit found themselves in the lower bracket.

But could they have done it in a best-of-three? The way the game looked - yeah, they could have.

sh1ro not only managed to 1G himself, but recorded a whopping 0.52 rating against CacaNito in 2026. We have to apologise to that one commenter - FenomeN would be an upgrade.

JiJieHao’s dub gave GamerLegion a red carpet straight into playoffs, and Tauson grabbed that sh-t with two hands. G2 became the second playoff qualifier after winning on the other side of the group, with a comfortable three-map win against BIG.

And despite that, r1nkle couldn’t get a rating above 1.00. Who’s really the new broky? Place your votes now.

Spirit saved face by humiliating Luminosity into last place, once again putting egg on the faces of the jack-sses who didn’t sign Gizmy. lux seems to agree, considering how hard it seems to be for the four ex-Gizzlers to fall in line.

The start of Group B went off without a hitch, as Falcons recovered from their Blast Bounty hiccup to win the group over Astralis, as FaZe shut down BetBoom and Legacy to join them.

The remaining openers were mostly without surprise, and today teams like Vitality, NAVI, MOUZ and FURIA will fight for a playoff spot. BetBoom versus NIP and 100 Thieves versus PARIVISION headlines the lower bracket later today as the teams fight to avoid finishing in last place.

And we’re putting it all on Mr. von Spreckelsen.