BIT: "If we make it back to the playoffs consistently, I'm sure at some point we'll win another tournament"
9z delivered the first upset of the Thunderpick World Championship in Malta, beating World No.5 Aurora in two maps and sealing the win with a near-flawless performance on Nuke. It was a much-needed victory for the South American side after a rough patch of form.
HLTV14 Oct 2026 · 1 min read
Since the title run at XSE Pro League Guangzhou in July, the team had won just four out of 13 matches, dropping down to 17th in the global VRS.
"Even though we won some matches in EPL, it had been a while since we'd beaten a really tier-1 team. We beat BETBOOM, a strong team, and we beat TYLOO, too.
Those were two important wins, but I think since July we hadn't beaten a tier-1 team.
I'm optimistic now that we'll be able to get more wins like this one." HLTV's latest projections put 9z as having a 60% chance of booking a spot in Stage 2 of the Singapore Major.
BIT said he is more worried about finding consistency in the team's game and that "things will fall into place for the Major." "We had a pretty interesting run of several playoffs at some point in the first half of the year," he said.
"Now, obviously we go into every tournament to win, but we have to go step by step.
Opinion
Fictional bylines. Each take uses a line above and adds no facts.
The headline skips this: "Since the title run at XSE Pro League Guangzhou in July, the team had won just four out of 13 matches, dropping down to 17th in the global VRS." That is the reading I would argue. The rest of the card does not cancel it.
Ivo Quill · contrarian
