We kicked off the Thunderpick World Championship (TWC) 2025 with an absolute banger of a tournament—the EU Series 1. Competing online via European servers, 24 Counter-Strike 2 esports teams battled it out for a share of the $25,000 prize pool and one spot at the Valve-sanctioned Closed Qualifier. Keeping us on the edge of our collective seats throughout the event, the teams and talented casters entertained viewers worldwide.
Missed the TWC 2025 EU Series #1 action? We’ve got you covered. Let’s take a look back at some of the best moments, starting with clutch plays before following the journey of the finalists.
ENCE And Fnatic Clash On Train
ENCE and Fnatic put on one of the most entertaining matches while going the distance. In the Quarterfinals of the TWC EU Series #1, ENCE won the first map (Anubis) 13-8. On the second map (Train), the teams clashed spectacularly, with overtime required to see Fnatic emerge victorious with a 16-14 score to force a deciding third map.
Both sides delivered some beautiful plays. For instance, ENCE’s rifler, Paavo “podi” Heiskanen, shut down Fnatic’s vigilant defensive efforts in the 14th round with a 2v1 clutch.
Fnatic’s Dmytro “jambo” Semera pulled off a crucial 2v1 clutch during overtime. Check it out below.
ENCE won the series 2-1, beating Fnatic with a 13-8 score on Dust2.
ECSTATIC Takes No Prisoners
Danish side ECSTATIC impressed everyone during the event, first topping Group B with a 2-0 score to secure a spot in the Playoffs. In the Round of 16, ECSTATIC made relatively quick work of 9INE, with a 13-9 score on Train and a 13-8 score on Inferno.
ECSTATIC hit a brick wall in the Quarterfinals when facing 500 on Inferno. They lost 13-6 as the 500 squad pushed ECSTATIC to the brink of elimination. Check out the crispy headshots on Inferno below to get the blood flowing.
In a brilliant display of resilience, ECSTATIC overcame the odds to reverse sweep 500 with a 13-8 score on Nuke and a 13-3 on Dust2, earning a spot in the Semifinals.
After eliminating Fnatic in the Quarterfinals, ENCE were the favorites when facing ECSTATIC in the Semifinals. But they didn’t care about the odds as they rose to the occasion and beat ENCE on their map pick of Mirage with a 13-8 score. Danish IGL Thomas “TMB” Bundsbæk led by example for ECSTATIC, shutting down his opponents on the B Site of Mirage.
ECSTATIC’s map pick of Train turned into a brutal slugfest. The teams were tied 12-12, forcing overtime. After a back-and-forth in two overtimes, ECSTATIC emerged victorious with a 19-17 score, knocking ENCE out of the competition to secure a spot in the Grand Final.
NAVI Junior’s Beautiful Playoffs Run
The academy roster of NAVI Junior lived up to their organization’s name at the TWC 2025 EU Series 1 Playoffs. Natus Vincere is Latin for “born to win,” and the team wasted no time making their status as winners abundantly clear. They pulled off a beautiful run in the single-elimination bracket by delivering clean sweeps against all three of their opponents in the run-up to the Grand Final.
In the Round of 16, NAVI Junior got off to a strong start, beating Sashi 13-10 on Nuke and 13-5 on Ancient to claim a spot in the Quarterfinals. While the Russian side RUBY impressed in the Round of 16, beating BetBoom 2-1, they were no match for NAVI Junior. They came out swinging in the Quarterfinals to beat RUBY 2-0, with 13-8 scores on both Dust2 and Ancient.
To earn a spot in the Grand Final, NAVI Junior put up an impressive performance against Astrum, beating their opponents senseless with a 13-2 score on Ancient and a 13-5 score on Mirage. Their IGL, Aulon “Krabeni” Fazlija, led by example, pulling off incredible plays like the 3v1 clutch below, ultimately scoring a massive 1.77 Rating in the series.
Throughout the Playoffs bracket leading up to the Grand Final, NAVI Junior didn’t lose a single map, and no team managed to force an overtime across all six maps. That’s what we call dominance.
NAVI Junior Reverse Sweeps ECSTATIC
The best-of-three Grand Final of the TWC 2025 EU Series 1 didn’t disappoint, as ECSTATIC clashed with NAVI Junior in a slugfest that could have gone either way.
ECSTATIC got an early lead on their map pick of Inferno, but NAVI Junior closed the gap thanks to stellar plays from Demon and Dziugss, who can be seen working together close to the A Site to shut down all five opponents.
The first half of Inferno was too close to call, with the teams scoring six rounds each. However, in the second half with ECSTATIC on the CT side, the Danish squad proved too much for NAVI Junior to handle, pulling ahead to ultimately secure a solid 13-9 win, going up 0-1 in the series.
One of the best moments was William “sirah” Kjærsgaard’s multikill in the 21st round.
On NAVI Junior’s map pick of Ancient, ECSTATIC got off to a strong start, going up 7-5 in the first half. However, NAVI Junior held their nerve to deliver a beautiful comeback. The squad won eight rounds on the CT side while ECSTATIC barely got one round on the board. With their dominant CT performance, NAVI won the map 13-8, pushing the best-of-three series to a deciding map.
With momentum now on their side, NAVI Junior got off to a flying start on the CT side of Dust2, securing a 10-2 lead in the first half. As the teams switched sides, NAVI Junior won the Pistol Round and sealed ECSTATIC’s fate two rounds later with a crushing 13-2 win. Watch the clip below where NAVI Junior completes the reverse sweep with a quick push on the B Site of Dust2 to secure a 2-1 Grand Final victory.
NAVI Junior’s big-match temperament was on full display during the Grand Final. It takes a special group of players to come back from a 0-1 deficit to win the series, especially in such a convincing fashion.
A Quick Look At The NAVI Junior Roster
NAVI Junior has proven to be a strong contender, entertaining fans with fantastic teamwork and powerful plays. Check out the young roster below.
- Dmytro “dem0n” Myroshnychenko
- Nikita “cmtry” Samolyotov
- Džiugas “dziugss” Steponavičius
- Drin “makazze” Shaqiri
- Aulon “Krabeni” Fazlija (IGL)
- András “coolio” Fercsák (Coach)
The Grand Final MVP went to dziugss for his excellent performance, resulting in a strong 1.29 Rating with 95.7 ADR, a 47-39 Kill/Death ratio, and a 0.81 KPR. Congratulations to NAVI Junior for winning the TWC 2025 EU Series #1 and securing a spot in the Closed Qualifier for the main event.
TWC 2025 EU Series 1 Standings
The final standings of the TWC 2025 EU Series #1 event, outlined below, include the precise placements of all 24 teams in attendance.
| Final Standing | Prize in USD | Teams |
| 1st | $20,000 | NAVI Junior |
| 2nd | $5,000 | ECSTATIC |
| 3rd-4th | – | ENCE and Astrum. |
| 5th-8th | – | 500, Fnatic, OG, and RUBY. |
| 9th-16th | – | RUSH B, 9INE, Passion UA, CYBERSHOKE Esports, Zero Tenacity, Metizport, BetBoom Team, and Sashi Esports. |
| 17th-20th | – | Sabre Esports, Dynamo Eclot, Monte, and Alliance. |
| 21st-24th | – | Iberian Soul, Delta, Fire Flux Esports, and SINNERS Esports. |
What’s Next For The TWC 2025?
The TWC 2025 action is just getting started, with more regional qualifiers to look forward to and a Valve-sanctioned Closed Qualifier ahead of the main event. Join us in getting hyped for the upcoming events and check out their landing pages below so you can follow along!
The 16 teams that made it through all the regional qualifiers will compete in the Closed Qualifier for four spots in the main event. The TWC 2025 Closed Qualifier will occur in September, followed by the main event in October, where eight teams (four direct invites and four qualified) will compete on LAN in Malta.
Keep up with every second of the action at our dedicated Thunderpick World Championship hub, and check out our CS2 betting section while you are at it!
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