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 2:0 9z Aurora 2:1 Venom |
| Oct. 18 | 4 p.m. CEST / 10 a.m. ET | Semifinals | FURIA 2:0 Aurora NAVI 2:1 The MongolZ |
| Oct. 19 | 1:30 p.m. CEST / 7:30 a.m. ET | Third-place match and grand final | Aurora 1:2 The MongolZ FURIA 3:2 NAVI |
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 | FURIA | $300,000 | $200,00 |
| 2nd | NAVI | $90,000 | $60,000 |
| 3rd | The MongolZ | $42,000 | $28,000 |
| 4th | Aurora | $30,000 | $20,000 |
| 5th–6th | 9z Venom | $12,000 | $8,000 |
| 7th–8th | Imperial OG | $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 2:0 9z 13:7 on Nuke 13:11 on Ancient | Aurora 2:1 Venom 13:2 on Nuke 4:13 on Overpass 13:6 on Mirage |
In terms of final results, the Group Stage did not bring any surprises. No underdogs could defeat the favorites. Still, some of such matches were really close.
- NAVI lost Map 1 to Imperial.
- Aurora lost Map 2 to Venom. The teams exchanged dominant games.
As for the matches between the favorites. FURIA delivered quite a show: they defeated The MongolZ with 19:15. NAVI had difficulties against Aurora, including a 4:13 on Nuke, but they still recovered to win.
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 2:0 Aurora 13:11 on Train 13:5 on Overpass | FURIA 3:2 NAVI 6:13 on Mirage 9:13 on Inferno 13:8 on Nuke 13:5 on Dust II 13:1 on Train | |
| NAVI 2:1 The MongolZ 13:9 on Mirage 3:13 on Nuke 13:10 on Ancient | Aurora 1:2 The MongolZ 16:14 on Inferno 10:13 on Mirage 14:16 on Nuke |
Semifinals
- FURIA enjoyed a pretty confident win over Aurora. While the first map was still competitive, FURIA totally dominated on Overpass. molodoy was the MVP.
- NAVI had difficulties against The MongolZ, including losing on their traditionally good map, Nuke. Still, the team earned a nice early advantage on Ancient and did not lose it even with the shaky second half.
Third-place match
- Aurora and The MongolZ delivered quite a show while battling for the third place at the CS2 Thunderpick World Championship 2025. We could witness two intense overtimes, and The MongolZ managed to secure this win.
Grand final
In the match for the title of the CS2 Thunderpick World Champions, FURIA defeated NAVI. They performed a brilliant reverse sweep, destroying the opponents with 13:1 on the decisive map.
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.
