The group stage of Thunderpick World Championship 2024 ended with a mix of predictable and unpredictable results.
The MongolZ, HEROIC, and BIG advanced to the playoffs, confirming their strength. But Virtus.pro, Team Falcons, Cloud9, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and M80, despite being counted among the favorites at the start of the tournament, were eliminated. In some cases, they were eliminated after just two matches!
The Eight Survivors
Here are the eight teams that qualified for the playoffs:
- 3DMAX
- OG
- The MongolZ
- Fnatic
- HEROIC
- Imperial Esports
- BIG
- BESTIA
Quarterfinals Results
Here’s what happened in each of the four quarterfinals that were played on the first day of the playoffs stage:
3DMAX vs. BESTIA: 2 – 1
3DMAX were expected to crush BESTIA after winning group A. On the first map, the score was 13 – 4 in their favor. But on the second map, the situation became very complicated in the second half and BESTIA managed to win in overtime 18 – 22.
The third map, once again, belonged to 3DMAX, who won in the second half after a 6-6 result in the first. The final score was 13 – 9.
Imperial Esports vs. The MongolZ: 1 – 2
Imperial looked capable of beating The MongolZ in the quarterfinals of Thunderpick World Championship 2024 and almost did. They lost the first map 12 – 16 and won the second one 13 – 6. On the third map, they had the lead after the first half (7 – 5) but ended up losing the second half almost completely. The score was 8 – 13.
HEROIC vs. Fnatic: 2 – 0
HEROIC and Fnatic played a very tough match in which both teams came close to winning. HEROIC eventually proved to be just a bit stronger: 13 – 10 on Nuke and 13 – 10 on Vertigo.
OG vs. BIG: 2 – 1
OG shouldn’t have won against BIG but after losing the first map 9 – 13, they started playing really well and won the last two maps 13 – 11 and 13 – 1.
