FURIA won the Thunderpick World Championship in Malta, edging BETBOOM 3-2 in a five-map final that swung across Dust2, Ancient, Nuke, Mirage and Cache. The result gave the Brazilian-majority roster its first title since BLAST Rivals Season 2 last November and its second Thunderpick World Championship trophy.
The victory came almost 11 months after FURIA last lifted a trophy, according to HLTV.org. It also came at the same event where the team had already won once before, with the organization now adding another Thunderpick title to its record and collecting $250,000 plus the club share listed by the tournament.
FURIA build an early lead on Dust2
Dust2 opened with FURIA in control. Aleksandr “zorte” Zagodyrenko was winning the AWP duels down Middle against Danil “molodoy” Golubenko, but Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato kept stacking rounds for FURIA. He finished the map with a 21-8 scoreline and helped the team win the force-buy battles that shaped both halves.
Those early wins let FURIA pull away fast. BETBOOM could not slow the economy swing, and FURIA closed Dust2 13-6 without ever letting the map become a long, grinding contest. The start gave the favorites immediate momentum in the series.
KSCERATO’s impact on Dust2 set the tone for the final. With FURIA repeatedly winning the awkward rounds and the follow-up buys, BETBOOM spent most of the map trying to recover territory it had already lost.
Ancient flips after a pair of costly teamkills
Ancient looked like another map FURIA might run away with. The team pushed out to a 7-1 lead, with zorte looking comfortable early on, but two teamkills within seconds of each other opened the door for BETBOOM. The Russian side took the chance and turned it into a full comeback.
FURIA then lost the next eight rounds in a row. The map tightened late, and after a back-and-forth finish it went to overtime. BETBOOM handled the extra rounds better and completed the comeback in two sets of overtime, tying the series and shifting the pressure back onto FURIA.
That turnaround was one of the biggest swings in the final. Instead of going up 2-0, FURIA had to reset after watching a strong Ancient start disappear in a few rounds.
BETBOOM strike back on Nuke before Mirage nearly slips away
BETBOOM then moved ahead in the series on Nuke. Kirill “Magnojez” Rodnov led the map with a strong display, including two huge multi-kills under pressure on the A bombsite that helped his team build a 7-2 defensive start. That cushion carried BETBOOM through the rest of the map and gave it its first lead of the final.
FURIA answered on Mirage and nearly made it a one-sided map. The team raced to a 10-2 CT side by fighting for Middle and using flanks when rounds became messy. FURIA also won the second pistol round, but BETBOOM kept the map alive by making the double-AWP setup with zorte and Magnojez work late in the game.
The finish was tight at 11-11. FURIA broke BETBOOM’s nine-round run with a successful 5v5 post-plant on A, then Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo closed the map with a triple kill in a 2v4 on the same bombsite. The 13-11 result sent the final to Cache with the title still up for grabs.
Mirage also showed how much BETBOOM could threaten once zorte and Magnojez started landing the right shots. FURIA still controlled the key late rounds, but not before the map threatened to turn into another comeback for the Russian side.
Cache decides the trophy
Cache was the decider, and FURIA made its plan obvious right away. The team wanted to pressure the B bombsite with speed, and that approach worked in the pistol round and in several important gun rounds on the T side. FalleN then won a crucial 1v2 near the end of the half, helping FURIA enter the second side with the lead.
The second half turned into a sequence of force-buy wars. The rounds kept swinging back and forth with the trophy on the line, and neither side could fully settle the map. Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis ended that back-and-forth with a well-timed flank on a BETBOOM execute into B, arriving just as the round was about to break open. That play stopped BETBOOM’s push and let FURIA close the final.
FURIA’s title ended a nearly year-long drought dating back to BLAST Rivals Season 2 in November. It also gave the team back-to-back Thunderpick World Championship titles, after an earlier win at the same event before that November triumph.
HLTV.org’s final standings listed the rest of the placement and prize money as follows:
- 1. FURIA — $250,000 (+$250,000 club share)
- 2. BETBOOM — $125,000 (+$125,000)
- 3. Aurora — $50,000 (+$50,000)
- 4. Falcons — $25,000 (+$25,000)
- 5-6. Legacy — $15,000 (+$15,000)
- 5-6. 9z — $15,000 (+$15,000)
- 7-8. PARIVISION — $10,000 (+$10,000)
- 7-8. Ninjas in Pyjamas — $10,000 (+$10,000)
The bracket behind the final also put Aurora in third, Falcons in fourth, and Legacy and 9z in the 5-6 spots. PARIVISION and Ninjas in Pyjamas rounded out the 7-8 places. FURIA left Malta with the trophy, the top prize and a second Thunderpick title to its name.
Related: Yuurih says FURIA would welcome a Thunderpick final against Falcons
FURIA winning it 3-2 after that Ancient collapse is the real story for me. A lot of teams tilt after losing an 8-1 lead and then going to overtime, but they reset and still closed the decider. betboom made it messy, sure, but FURIA looked like the side with a bigger map pool when it mattered.
yeah and that Mirage recovery mattered too, 11-11 into a 13-11 finish is not luck. still think betboom gave them too many free rounds on Ancient though
free rounds? they earned a couple with those teamkills, let’s not pretend Ancient was clean
21-8 on Dust2
that is insane for a final map start. when KSCERATO is shooting like that the round just feels over before it begins
who got mvp?
how did Cache decide it if the series already had Dust2, Ancient, Nuke and Mirage? I did not expect that map in a final