Six online regional qualifiers, incredible Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) esports action, and countless hours of work behind the scenes all led to the Thunderpick World Championship Closed Qualifier 2025. With four spots at our upcoming Main Event on the line, all 16 teams brought their A-game to the compete in the single-elimination bracket.
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Let’s take a look at the journey of all four CS2 teams who made it through our Valve-sanctioned Closed Qualifier, punching their ticket to the TWC 2025 Main Event on LAN in Malta (Oct. 15-19), including highlights of how they proved unstoppable.
The Sting of Team Venom
In the first round, Ninjas in Pyjamas got off to a strong start on Dust2, winning the pistol thanks to a clutch from Kacper “xKacpersky” Gabara. The underdogs, Team Venom, recovered well in the first half to take a 7-5 lead. On the CT side, Team Venom pulled further ahead to win the map 13-7.
On Nuke, both teams won their CT sides with 8-4 scorelines for a 12-12 score. Ninjas in Pyjamas pulled off a five-round comeback to force overtime, with some incredibly intense moments, including a last-second defuse. In overtime, Team Venom closed out Nuke 16-14, eliminating Ninjas in Pyjamas from the tournament with a 2-0 scoreline.
With a spot at the TWC 2025 Main Event on the line, Team Venom faced off against Nemiga. On the CT side of Overpass, Team Venom pulled far ahead with a 9-3 score in the first half, and closed out the map in style with a 13-5 win, with a strong 2v1 clutch from Alan “Flayy” Krupa.
On Ancient, Nemiga fought back to take an early lead, with Beksūltan “khaN” Ospan pulling off a beautiful clutch. However, Team Venom retaliated to tie the half 6-6. Team Venom pulled ahead on the CT side, thanks to a 200IQ smoke resulting in a 2v1 clutch from Kamil “Sobol” Sobolewski. The underdogs went on to beat Nemiga 13-7 on Ancient and a 2-0 series score, to qualify for the TWC 2025 Main Event. Congratulations!
Team Venom roster:
- Alan “Flayy” Krupa
- Kamil “Sobol” Sobolewski
- Paweł “innocent” Mocek
- Konrad “Qlocuu” Klocek
- Oskar “hfah” Wroński
- Grzegorz “SZPERO” Dziamałek (Coach)
Team Venom was an underdog heading into the Closed Qualifier, ranked #49 on the VRS.
9z Crushes Russian Hopes
In the first round, 9z Team faced the Russian side BetBoom Team, led by Major winner Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhaylov. BetBoom Team got off to a strong start, pulling ahead on the T side of Nuke (7-5) and finishing with a 13-8 score on the CT side, with some inspired AWP shots from Artem “ArtFr0st” Kharitonov.
9z fought back on their map pick of Train. After a dominating CT side in the second half, they ended the map with a 13-10 scoreline, tying up the series 1-1 and forcing a Dust2 decider. 9z Team pulled ahead early on Dust2, with some fantastic plays, including Luca “Luken” Nadotti’s three kills on the B-Site. Despite a comeback attempt from BetBoom, 9z closed out the map 13-11, thereby completing the reverse-sweep with a 2-1 score and eliminating BetBoom from the tournament.
Heading into the all-important second round, 9z Team were again the underdogs, facing the Russian side PARIVISION. 9z Team won the Pistol on the CT side of Ancient with Matias “HUASOPEEK” Ibañez scoring four kills, and pulled ahead quickly for an 8-4 lead. On the T side, Maximiliano “max” Gonzalez grabbed three kills in the Pistol and 9z Team kept their momentum going, winning five in a row to finish off Ancient 13-4.
On 9z Team’s map pick of Train, the squads traded blows in the first half for a 6-6 scoreline. However, on the CT side, 9z Team pulled ahead, claiming the Pistol with four kills from Lucas “urban0” Urbano. 9z Team managed to stay ahead, closing out Train 13-9, and the series 2-0 to qualify for the TWC 2025 Main Event. Congratulations!
9z Team roster:
- Matias “HUASOPEEK” Ibañez
- Luca “Luken” Nadotti
- Guilherme “levi” Godoy
- Lucas “urban0” Urbano
- Maximiliano “max” Gonzalez (IGL)
- Bruno “BIT” Lima (Coach)
In case you missed it, 9z Team made it through our TWC SA Series 2 to claim a spot in the Closed Qualifier.
Brazilian Derby Propels Imperial To The TWC Main Event
Imperial Esports faced Team Next Level (TNL) in the first round, and on Mirage, they got off to a strong 8-4 start. Despite TNL’s comeback attempt, Imperial Esports won Mirage 13-8, with Santino “try” Rigal holding the line. On Overpass, TNL took a 9-3 lead in the first half, but Imperial Esports went on a 10-round streak on the CT side to win the map 13-9, and the series 2-0.
Things didn’t go as planned for Imperial Esports when they faced Legacy in the Brazilian derby, as Legacy won the first half of Inferno 8-4, and pulled ahead to a massive 12-4 lead. However, Imperial Esports showed their big match temperament, clawing back a whopping eight in a row on the T side to tie the map 12-12, forcing overtime. In overtime, IGL Vinicius “VINI” Figueiredo rallied the troops to pull ahead for a 16-14 win, going up 1-0 in the series.
On Mirage, Imperial Esports took an early 6-1 lead before Legacy mounted a comeback thanks to a clean triple kill from Bruno “latto” Rebelatto. Imperial Esports stabilized for a narrow 7-5 lead in the first half, and after a back-and-forth in the second half, they came out on top with a 13-11 win on Mirage, closing out the series 2-0.
From being 4-12 down in the first map and pulling off a massive comeback, to holding their nerve to avoid overtime on Mirage narrowly, Imperial showed no mercy to Legacy in the Brazilian derby. With the impressive win, Imperial Esports booked flights to Malta. Congratulations!
Imperial Esports roster:
- Kaiky “noway” Santos
- Santino “try” Rigal
- Marcelo “chelo” Cespedes
- Felipe “skullz” Medeiros
- Vinicius “VINI” Figueiredo (IGL)
- Rafael “zakk” Fernandes (Coach)
In case you’ve missed it, Imperial Esports made it all the way through the TWC 2025 SA Series 1 regional event to compete in our Closed Qualifier.
OG Smashes Favorites To Claim A Seat
OG faced one of the favorites, M80, who recently beat NAVI, Virtus.pro, and Fnatic for a top-eight finish at BLAST Open London. However, that didn’t bother OG’s IGL, Christoffer “Chr1zN” Storgaard, who set the pace with a clutch in the Pistol round on the first map, Ancient. Teams tied the first half 6-6, before OG pulled ahead on the CT side to win 13-10.
On Overpass, M80 took control early thanks to heroics from Mason “Lake” Sanderson on the T side. After a 7-5 lead in the first half, M80 looked to tie the series, but OG had other ideas. With eight T rounds, OG won Overpass 13-10, and therefore, the series 2-0, eliminating one of the favorites.
In the second round, OG clashed against the German side BIG, and quickly pulled ahead in the series by winning their map pick, Nuke, with a dominating 13-4 score. BIG retaliated with vigor on their map pick, Train, with a strong 13-5 showing, forcing a third and deciding map.
On Dust2, OG took a commanding lead in the first half of play, thanks in part to Adam “adamb” Ångström’s three kills on the B-Site defense. Showing extreme confidence, OG’s Rafael “arrozdoce” Wing pulled out the knife to finish the 11th round in style, adding insult to injury. OG ended up winning Dust2 with a 13-2 scoreline, and the series 2-1, to qualify for the TWC 2025 Main Event. Congratulations!
OG roster:
- Olle “spooke” Grundström
- Nico “nicoodoz” Tamjidi
- Adam “adamb” Ångström
- Rafael “arrozdoce” Wing
- Christoffer “Chr1zN” Storgaard (IGL)
- Lambert “Lambert” Prigent (Coach)
OG made it all the way to a 4th-place finish at the TWC 2024, claiming a $50,000 prize. Can they make a deeper run this year?
The Main Event Is Almost Here!
The four teams that made it through this Closed Qualifier have earned their spot at the TWC 2025 Main Event, where they’ll compete against each other and the four Direct Invites. It all takes place on LAN in Malta from Oct. 15 to 19 for a share of the $850,000 prize pool, the largest ever put up by a sportsbook.
Here are all the teams we’ll see at the Main Event in October:
- The MongolZ (Direct Invite)
- NAVI (Direct Invite)
- FURIA Esports (Direct Invite)
- Aurora Gaming (Direct Invite)
- Team Venom
- Imperial Esports
- 9z Team
- OG
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