Thunderpick World Championship 2026 heads to Malta with eight CS2 teams battling for a US$1 million prize pool.
Thunderpick World Championship returns this month, welcoming some of the world’s best Counter-Strike 2 teams who will duke it out for a share of the US$1,000,000 prize pool.
Scheduled to kick off on Wednesday, October 14, the Thunderpick World Championship marks the next big stop on the 2026 CS2 competitive calendar and one of the final S-Tier LAN events of the year.
Taking place at BLAST Arena Studios in Attard, Malta, the tournament will welcome eight teams, all of whom received direct invites based on their position in the Valve Regional Standings as of the August update.
Succeeding ESL Pro League Season 24, which concluded just three days prior, the Thunderpick World Championship will not feature some of the world’s top squads; however, there will be no lack of world-class talent travelling to Malta.
As a short-format tournament, the Thunderpick World Championship will run for just five days and is divided into two stages.
The event starts with two four-team double-elimination groups, where all matches will be played as best-of-three.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the playoffs, which are single-elimination, with best-of-three semifinals, a third-place decider, and best-of-five grand final on Sunday, October 18.
Despite being a shorter event, Thunderpick World Championship 2026 is a tournament no esports fan or punter should miss, promising exciting games and plenty of betting opportunities.
Esportbet brings you a free Thunderpick World Championship 2026 tournament preview, with schedule, esports odds, a preview of the main favourites, and expert outright betting picks.
Thunderpick World Championship 2026 outright odds
- Team Falcons – +175
- Aurora Gaming – +333
- Legacy – +375
- FURIA – +400
- BetBoom Team – +1700
- PARIVISION – +1700
- 9z Team – +2000
- Ninjas in Pyjamas – +2500
Thunderpick World Championship 2026 teams to watch
Team Falcons
The Intel Extreme Cologne Major champions are one of the main trophy contenders at Thunderpick World Championship 2026, as the tournament’s second-highest-rated team, sitting in fifth place in the global standings.
Their relatively low standing is largely due to their poor showings over the last four months, as Falcons have managed only one top-four finish across four tournaments since hoisting the trophy in Germany.
More recently, they crashed out of ESL Pro League Season 24 in fifth-eighth place, losing to Team Vitality and Team Spirit.
Team Falcons have been very consistent in beating lesser teams, but their record against elite rosters is worrying, as they have failed over the last three months to make it past Spirit twice, Team Vitality, MOUZ, and Legacy.
All that, however, is hardly a major concern, as none of the elite three teams will be in attendance in Malta.
Aurora Gaming
Aurora Gaming enter Thunderpick World Championship 2026 as a team to watch.
Even though they are not the main title contenders, Aurora have been posting promising results of late.
After reaching the semifinals of the IEM Cologne Major, Aurora were fairly quiet up until September, when they placed second at StarLadder StarSeries Fall.
More recently, Aurora also secured a bronze medal at ESL Pro League Season 24.
Even though Aurora lost to Team Falcons and Team Vitality in the ESL Pro League, they also defeated Team Spirit, FURIA, and 9z Team, which should inspire confidence that the Turkish outfit have the tools to produce a deep run in Malta.
Legacy
Legacy enter Thunderpick World Championship as a bit of an enigma.
They have been producing some promising tournament results of late, with trophies from CS Asia Championships and FISSURE Playground #3, and a bronze medal from the Esports World Cup.
However, while Legacy have had their moments, the Brazilian outfit have also been very inconsistent with a couple of early eliminations, notably from BLAST Open Fall and ESL Pro League Season 24, which they ended in ninth-12th and 12th-14th place.
So even though Legacy have a very high ceiling, they remain one of the more unreliable CS2 teams at the Thunderpick World Championship.
FURIA
FURIA are expected to produce a deep run at the Thunderpick World Championship, as IEM Cologne Major finalists.
However, since reaching the big stage in Germany, FURIA have been largely underwhelming, often falling apart against other elite teams.
FURIA are dealing with similar issues to Team Falcons, but like Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov and his crew, FURIA will not have to deal with many of the top-tier rosters in Malta, with Falcons, Aurora Gaming, and Legacy the only other three squads ranked in the top 10.
BetBoom Team
BetBoom Team have a lot to prove at Thunderpick World Championship, after they have been struggling to leave a lasting mark in their more recent competitive endeavours.
Since reaching the quarterfinals of the IEM Cologne Major, BB Team’s only other deep tournament run happened at FISSURE Playground #3, where they placed top four.
At ESL Pro League Season 24, BB Team were underwhelming with only one win against M80 and two defeats against Aurora Gaming and 9z Team.
On a more positive note, BetBoom have plenty of firepower which has caused issues for other top-rated squads before, so if they can get the ball rolling early, the Russian squad could shake up the balance of power.
Thunderpick World Championship 2026 predictions
Outright bet – Team Falcons to win
Team Falcons have become known as one of the most stacked rosters in the world, but also a team that will consistently fall apart in the final stretch of bigger events.
Falcons have been struggling to make it past other top contenders in MOUZ, Spirit, and Team Vitality, but they have been very effective in beating lesser teams.
Knowing that they are the second-highest-rated team behind FURIA at the Thunderpick World Championship makes it much easier to believe that Falcons can make a run for the trophy, as there are no elite rosters to spoil their plans.
This tournament is also an important one for Team Falcons, who need to find some momentum ahead of their next big campaign at Intel Extreme Masters Beijing 2026.
Team Falcons to win
Outsider bet – Aurora Gaming to reach the final
Aurora Gaming have been showing excellent form ahead of the Thunderpick World Championship, and their third-place finish at ESL Pro League Season 24 is a good indication that the Turkish outfit can challenge for big trophies.
While Falcons can cause them issues, as they have before, Aurora Gaming have been very effective in beating other lower-rated teams, and even some other big names travelling to Malta, including FURIA, BetBoom Team, and 9z Team.
With momentum on their side, Aurora Gaming appear to be in a great spot to contest a podium finish.
Aurora Gaming to reach the final
Mark Prezelj
Esports Betting Analyst
Mark Prezelj is a Slovenian esports betting analyst with over 3,500 articles at EsportBet and the founder of Lines64.com — someone who has been reading odds longer than most readers have been watching esports.
