Nuclear TigeRES Stun 100 Thieves in Double OT to Reach StarSeries Fall
Nuclear TigeRES ended 100 Thieves’ run at the StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026 Europe Closed Qualifier with a 2-1 victory in the Group D elimination match on July 23, closing the door on Gizmy’s side just 24 hours after they had upset IEM Cologne Major champions Falcons in BLAST Bounty Season 2 – and costing them a shot at a $500,000 LAN prize pool alongside Vitality, FURIA, and Natus Vincere.
Ancient Double Overtime Proves Decisive
The series hinged on Nuclear TigeRES’ map pick of Ancient, where 100 Thieves held a 12-10 lead and then a 15-14 advantage and then lost the map in double overtime. It was the kind of clutch collapse that shifts series momentum irreversibly, and 100 Thieves never recovered the composure they had shown against Falcons the day before.
Håvard ‘rain’ Nygaard posted a 1.66 Rating 3.0 on Mirage to level the series at 1-1, but that individual effort couldn’t compensate for a collective Inferno implosion on the decider. Rain finished the series at 55-51 kills with a 1.05 overall rating – the only 100 Thieves player clearly above parity across three maps.
flouzer Leads Nuclear TigeRES Through the Decider
Ilya ‘flouzer’ Selifonov, 18, was Nuclear TigeRES’ standout across the match – finishing 60-50 with a series-high 1.27 Rating 3.0 and 84.7 ADR. His Inferno performance matched the moment, providing the consistent output that carried Nuclear TigeRES through the decider when 100 Thieves had no answer for the Russian teenager.
Denis ‘m1QUSE’ Karpovich contributed a 1.17 rating alongside flouzer, giving Nuclear TigeRES a two-man core that outperformed 100 Thieves’ top end in the maps that counted. Jack ‘Gizmy’ von Spreckelsen, 100 Thieves’ IGL, finished at an 0.81 rating on 45-53 kills – the team’s lowest-performing player across the series.
VRS Hit and What Comes Next
The loss is a tangible setback for 100 Thieves’ VRS climb. 100 Thieves are out of the running for a spot at StarLadder StarSeries Fall. The momentum from their BLAST Bounty upset over Falcons evaporated within a single session.
100 Thieves were knocked into the elimination bracket after losing their qualifier opener to Ninjas in Pyjamas on Wednesday before briefly reviving with the Falcons win – a bounce-back sequence that ultimately ended one result too early. The organisation,
Nuclear TigeRES beat 100 Thieves in Group D to eliminate them from the Europe Closed Qualifier Whether they can convert this upset into a genuine tier-one breakthrough – rather than a one-series anomaly – is the question their qualifier run now has to answer. Falcons are the current HLTV #1-ranked side.
Source: HLTV
