Thunderpick World Championship 2024 Group Stage Preview
The Thunderpick World Championship 2024 is upon us, with the 16 teams ready to battle it out in an online group stage in hopes of attending the LAN Finals in November. Check out our preview below.
Tournament Format
The competition comprises 16 teams divided into four groups, with two squads from each group making it out to the decider games. The winners of the decider games book themselves a spot in the Thunderpick World Championship 2024 Finals at the start of November.
While the bulk of the $1,000,000 prize pool will be distributed during the LAN portion of the event, the losers of the decider matches will evenly split $80,000 between them.
Group A
Group A is an exciting one for a variety of reasons. The GOAT s1mple returns to competition with Falcons, replacing SunPayus ahead of the upcoming Shanghai Major. Apart from a single BO3 in the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown earlier in the year, this will be his first tournament in over a year. It will be curious to see if he can match up to the best CS2 players in the world right now.
The CS2 odds should be in Virtus.pro’s favor since they are the highest-ranked team in this group and the whole tournament. Despite their recent struggles, their IEM Rio playoff run should give them the confidence to continue improving with the Major right around the corner.
3DMAX and Unpaid, formerly Bleed, round out the group with both having an outside chance of making it to the decider games. 3DMAX especially is a realistic threat to both front runners. The French squad has been a stable force in the Tier 2 scene over the past year.
Group B
Group B could be considered the most even group coming into the competition, with all four teams capable of advancing, depending on their form on the day. Having said that, TheMongolz are the big favorites, having showcased their consistency and high level of play multiple times throughout 2024.
fnatic are an interesting team on the up right now, with the rifling duo of blameF and MATYS terrorizing other Tier 2 teams on almost a daily basis. Taking a couple of good wins and making it out of this group would be a huge step for this roster before the upcoming RMR.
Both 9z and Cloud9 have been in a bit of a rut as of late, although C9 hasn’t recovered since electroNic and Perfecto departed the team in April this year. Both teams are looking to prove to the fans and more importantly to themselves that they belong among the best CS2 teams.
Group C
In theory, Group C would be the safest group to consider when CS2 betting. Heroic are the clear favorites, especially after their semi-final run at IEM Rio and making the playoffs at Elisa Masters Espoo. The international roster will want to build on their momentum coming into the Major circuit, after failing to make an impact in the scene for most of 2024.
The remaining trio of Imperial, NIP, and Legacy will battle it out among themselves for that second decider match spot. While the Brazilians handle themselves pretty well against local competition, they struggle immensely against European opposition, as demonstrated by Imperial at IEM Rio, where they got trounced by NAVI.
Having said that, Imperial are probably the favorites among the the three, with NIP’s performances looking dire in recent months and Legacy’s roster not being up to par with the talent on Imperial.
Group D
Much like in Group B, the competition is matched up very evenly in Group D. M80 and BIG are the top names touted to make it through, with the American-majority squad making quite an impression in European tournaments, such as ESL Pro League S20, where they made it to the quarter-finals.
BIG have been a stable player in the Tier 2 scene in 2024, most recently reaching the Grand Final of ESL Challenger Atlanta, where they fell short against FlyQuest. Interestingly, they bested M80 in the same event in a 13-7 BO1 victory on their beloved map, Dust 2.
While BESTIA is undoubtedly the weakest team in the group, Aurora has historically been a very capable upset team in the Tier 2 space. Recently though, they’ve struggled even against local opposition, losing to teams like PARIVISION or Nemiga. A good performance in this event could power them up and set them in good stead before the upcoming RMR.
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