The tournament is a clash of underdogs and big Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) teams. The prize pool is quite impressive.
On one hand, CS2 Thunderpick World Championship 2025 has only eight participants. Some top teams decided to skip it. On the other hand, the very format makes the event interesting to follow.
The invited participants are most likely to secure the biggest piece of the $850,000 prize pool. Still, the qualified teams have a chance to showcase their power, beat one of the favorites, and open doors for themselves to progress in top CS2 esports.
With the two tournament stages, the main theme of Thunderpick World Championship 2025 shifts from “underdogs vs the favorites” to “the top teams battle for big cash.”
Where to watch CS2 Thunderpick World Championship 2025: Stream
Schedule
The tournament goes on for five days, from Oct. 15 to Oct. 19. This period includes the Group Stage and the Playoffs. The detailed schedule of CS2 Thunderpick World Championship 2025 is in the table below.
Date | Start time | Tournament stage | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 15 | 10:30 a.m. CEST / 4:30 a.m. ET | Groups: Opening matches | FURIA 2:0 OG The MongolZ 2:0 9z NAVI 2:1 Imperial Aurora 2:0 Venom |
| Oct. 16 | 10:30 a.m. CEST / 4:30 a.m. ET | Groups: Advancement and elimination | FURIA 2:0 The MongolZ OG 0:2 9z NAVI 2:1 Aurora Imperial 1:2 Venom |
| Oct. 17 | 3 p.m. CEST / 9 a.m. ET | Groups: Decider matches | The MongolZ vs 9z Aurora vs Venom |
| Oct. 18 | 4 p.m. CEST / 10 a.m. ET | Semifinals | FURIA vs TBD TBD vs TBD |
| Oct. 19 | 1:30 p.m. CEST / 7:30 a.m. ET | Third-place match and grand final | TBD vs TBD TBD vs TBD |
Talent
People who work on the stream are shown in the image below: analyst desk, casters, hosts, and an interviewer.
Results of CS2 Thunderpick World Championship 2025
In this section, you’ll find the tournament results.
The final standings table shows the prize money division between players and the club, which is a pretty unique feature for the event.
Final Standings
Placement | Team | Prize money club share | Prize money player share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | TBD | $300,000 | $200,00 |
| 2nd | TBD | $90,000 | $60,000 |
| 3rd | TBD | $42,000 | $28,000 |
| 4th | TBD | $30,000 | $20,000 |
| 5th–6th | TBD TBD | $12,000 | $8,000 |
| 7th–8th | Imperial TBD | $12,000 | $8,000 |
Groups
The eight teams competing in the CS2 Thunderpick World Championship 2025 are divided into two groups. After a series of double-elimination matches, the two top teams from each group advance further.
Stage | Group A | Group B |
|---|---|---|
| Opening matches | FURIA 2:0 OG 13:10 on Nuke 13:9 on Inferno | NAVI 2:1 Imperial 10:13 on Mirage 13:4 on Nuke 13:8 on Dust II |
| Opening matches | The MongolZ 2:0 9z 13:3 on Dust II 13:5 on Ancient | Aurora 2:0 Venom 13:11 on Nuke 13:7 on Overpass |
| Advancement | FURIA 2:0 The MongolZ 19:15 on Dust II 13:11 on Mirage | NAVI 2:1 Aurora 4:13 on Nuke 13:6 on Mirage 13:11 on Dust II |
| Elimination | OG 0:2 9z 13:7 on Train 8:13 on Nuke 16:19 on ANcient | Imperial 1:2 Venom 6:13 on Train 13:5 on Overpass 11:13 on Dust II |
| Deciders | The MongolZ vs 9z | Aurora vs Venom |
Brackets
The final Playoffs are pretty short: two semifinals, a match for third place, and the grand final.
Semifinals | Third-place match | Grand final |
|---|---|---|
| FURIA vs TBD | TBD vs TBD | TBD vs TBD |
| NAVI vs TBD |
A nice chance for smaller teams
It is really great to see the CS2 esports scene being open to fresh names. At EPL Season 22, some generally unknown teams had a blast of a tournament run, including spectacular upsets.
In a way, the first stage of the Thunderpick World Championship is all about this opportunity. Those smaller teams made it through closed qualifiers, and here they are, facing the biggest organizations in Counter-Strike.
Watching the top teams go head-to-head is always exciting — and that’s likely what this short Playoffs run are all about.
The top favorites: Tournament preview
There are four invited teams at this CS2 esports event. An interesting thing about them is that it’s really hard to point at an obvious favorite.
- The MongolZ won the Esports World Cup 2025, but they could not qualify for the EPL C22 Playoffs. Their losses were mainly to underdogs.
- NAVI is on the rollercoaster right now. They reached the top 4 at IEM Cologne 2025, but then experienced a downfall of results, including skipping the final parts at BLAST Bounty Fall, the EWC, and BLAST Open Fall.
- Aurora may seem like a smaller team, but they were in the grand final of the EWC 2025.
- FURIA may have the best winning chances — on paper. They defeated The MongolZ in the grand final of FISSURE Playground #2 and had a great run at EPL S22, stopped only by Vitality.
The next opportunity to witness a lower-tier CS2 esports competition is PGL Masters Bucharest 2025, from Oct. 24 to Nov. 1. Despite $625,000 in the prize pool, only Aurora among the top teams are heading to the event.
All the top dogs gather in China for Intel Extreme Masters Chengdu 2025. The event goes from Nov. 3 to Nov. 9.
