The Thunderpick World Championship 2025 marks its third edition with an $850K LAN Finals in Malta, Oct. 15–19. Four VRS Top 10 teams – The MongolZ, NAVI, Aurora, and FURIA – received direct invites.
A tournament that’s not BLAST, PGL, or EFG? It must be the Thunderpick World Championship 2025 (TWC), Counter-Strike’s premier independent LAN. Back for its third and biggest edition yet.
The TWC LAN Finals, to be held in Malta from Oct. 15 to 19, boast a prize pool of $850,000 split between players and teams. First place finish? $500,000.
“As we enter our third year, the Thunderpick World Championship continues to push the boundaries of competitive Counter-Strike,” said Kelly Sanders, Head of Strategy at Thunderpick.
“With top teams from around the world converging on Malta and the return of defending champions The MongolZ, fans can expect an unforgettable event full of high-stakes gameplay.”
Thunderpick World Championship 2025 Main Event
TWC 2025 will include four of the top ten teams in the world standings. Defending champions and EWC 2025 winners The MongolZ are one of four teams to receive a direct invite. The MongolZ recently climbed to #3 in the VRS Rankings September update, making them a favourite for the event.
The next highest rated teams to receive direct invites were Aurora Gaming (#6), Natus Vincere (#7) and FURIA (#10). Interestingly, the August VRS Rankings were used to determine invites, where Aurora was #11.
Main event invites and qualified teams:
- [Direct invite] The MongolZ
- [Direct invite] NAVI
- [Direct invite] FURIA
- [Direct invite] Aurora Gaming
- #1 TWC Finals Closed Qualifier
- #2 TWC Finals Closed Qualifier
- #3 TWC Finals Closed Qualifier
- #4 TWC Finals Closed Qualifier
The remaining four teams to compete will be decided by a Closed Qualifier from Sept. 9-11.
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Closed Qualifiers
The Closed Qualifiers will feature 16 teams, many of which are middle of the pack teams. The event is a good opportunity for BetBoom, who hit a good run of form online to climb three spaces in the last VRS Rankings update.
Rank | Points | Team Name |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | 1374 | Legacy |
| 20 | 1370 | BetBoom |
| 22 | 1322 | SAW |
| 24 | 1308 | Ninjas in Pyjamas |
| 29 | 1221 | ENCE |
| 30 | 1214 | OG Esports |
| 31 | 1209 | ECSTATIC |
| 34 | 1188 | Imperial Esports |
| 35 | 1185 | PARIVISION |
| 37 | 1176 | M80 |
| 41 | 1136 | Nemiga Gaming |
| 45 | 1097 | BIG |
| 51 | 1040 | 9z |
| 59 | 995 | JiJieHao |
| — | — | TEAM NEXT LEVEL |
| — | — | Team Venom |
Thunderpick World Championship 2025 Prize Pool
The Thunderpick World Championship 2025 sees a 40-60 split for players and teams. Both player and team shares will count towards VRS Standings. These two shares combined amount to $850,000 in prize money. A victory in Malta will bag the winning team and players $500,000 in prize money.
The remaining $150,000 of the $1 million prize pool has been put towards participation fees for the eight teams competing in Malta.
In addition direct invites MongolZ, Natus Vincere, Aurora and FURIA each receive an additional $25,000 participation fee. Meanwhile, the four teams from the Closed Qualifiers will receive an extra $12,500.
Placement | Total | Player Share | Team Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Place | $500,000.00 | $200,000.00 | $300,000.00 |
| 2nd Place | $150,000.00 | $60,000.00 | $90,000.00 |
| 3rd Place | $70,000.00 | $28,000.00 | $42,000.00 |
| 4th Place | $50,000.00 | $20,000.00 | $30,000.00 |
| 5th Place | $20,000.00 | $8,000.00 | $12,000.00 |
| 6th Place | $20,000.00 | $8,000.00 | $12,000.00 |
| 7th Place | $20,000.00 | $8,000.00 | $12,000.00 |
| 8th Place | $20,000.00 | $8,000.00 | $12,000.00 |
With four of the world’s top 10 teams already locked in and a field of challengers fighting for the four LAN spots, the Thunderpick World Championship 2025 should be a nice change of pace.
