Thunderpick World Championship matchups announced with Virtus.pro replaced by NIP
Thunderpick has announced the opening matchups for its upcoming World Championship, slated to run from October 14-18 with $1,000,000 on offer.
HLTV9 Oct 2026 · 1 min read
Virtus.pro had secured a spot at the event through the Closed Qualifier, and according to the organizer's rulebook , any withdrawal results in the replacement team coming from the next eligible team in the VRS to accept an invite.
However, as the withdrawal is within 20 days of the event's start, the replacement team comes from the next eligible team in the event's host region — in this case, Europe.
The Maltese tournament will utilize two best-of-three GSL groups to send four teams through to a single-elimination playoffs bracket, which will culminate with a best-of-five grand final after a third-place decider.
Falcons , as the highest-seeded team, will take on Ninjas in Pyjamas in their opener, with their group also featuring 9z and Aurora .
Group B will see Legacy face off against PARIVISION , with Andrei "arT" Piovezan back in the lineup after he missed ESL Pro League due to health reasons. FURIA 's grueling schedule will also continue as they begin their run against BETBOOM .
Opinion
Fictional bylines. Each take uses a line above and adds no facts.
Falcons Esports still has to answer for this: "Virtus.pro had secured a spot at the event through the Closed Qualifier, and according to the organizer's rulebook , any withdrawal results in the replacement team coming from t…" That is the soft spot on the card. Nothing else in these lines closes it.
Mara Voss · pessimist
FURIA can stand on this line: "Group B will see Legacy face off against PARIVISION , with Andrei "arT" Piovezan back in the lineup after he missed ESL Pro League due to health reasons. FURIA 's grueling sch…" It is already on the card, so the case does not need a streak or a roster rumor.
Leo Hart · optimist
TransfersFalcons EsportsAuroraFURIAVirtus.pro
Earlier on CS2Feed
- 2 OctThunderpick has revealed the talent lineup for Thunderpick World Championship, which is set to take place October 14-18 in Malta. A 12-person strong broadcast lineup will bring the $1,000,000 tournament to our screens, with plenty of familiar faces set to grace the stream.
- 24 SepA pool of 16 teams at Stake Pulse Beat II has been whittled down to eight after the conclusion of a GSL group stage that was topped by Astralis , HEROIC , 100 Thieves , and JiJieHao .
