9z earned a statement win against the fifth-ranked team in the VRS, Aurora, to kick off this year's Thunderpick World Championship.
The Latin American squad had surprised during the first half of 2026 by making the playoffs at PGL Astana and the IEM Cologne Major, beating the likes of MOUZ, Falcons and Vitality along the way, but failed to keep their hot run of form going in the second half of the year despite a victory during the summer at XSE Pro League, however, going on a group-stage exit streak at their last four events: EWC, BLAST Porto, FPG 3, and EPL 24.
Aurora and 9z recently clashed in the opening round of the aforementioned EPL 24, where the Europeans went on to show great form in a third-place run after beating their Latin American counterparts in the opening round.
This time around, it was the Maximiliano "max" Gonzalez-led squad who imposed their will, with star player Luciano "luchov" Herrera shining in the series. The 25-year-old led the server with a 1.61 rating, +6.61%, 97.4 ADR, and 86.8% KAST.
9z took control on their Inferno pick out of the gate, putting up eight rounds on the attack, but then struggled to hold on to the lead on the defense as the map went all the way to the last round of regulation.
Nuke was a different story, as Aurora were completely disarmed on the attack and were good only for a single round of honor to stave off the shame of losing the map with a goose egg.
9z earned a valuable 62 points in the VRS ranking with this victory, which helps them further cement their bid for a Stage 2 berth at the Major as they are currently third in the Americas with 1571 points.
Vitality
Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire
Robin 'ropz' Kool
Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut
Shahar 'flameZ' Shushan
William 'mezii' Merriman
Rémy 'XTQZZZ' Quoniam
Falcons
Finn 'karrigan' Andersen
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač
René 'TeSeS' Madsen
Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov
Maksim 'kyousuke' Lukin
Danny 'zonic' Sørensen
Luciano 'luchov' HerreraPast 3 months
Aurora
Ismailcan 'XANTARES' Dörtkardeş
Özgür 'woxic' Eker
Jimi 'Jimpphat' Salo
Damjan 'kyxsan' Stoilkovski
Ali 'Wicadia' Haydar Yalçın
Ashley 'ash' Battye
MOUZ
Ádám 'torzsi' Torzsás
Lotan 'Spinx' Giladi
Dorian 'xertioN' Berman
Oldřich 'PR' Nový
Adrian 'xelex' Vincze
Dennis 'sycrone' Nielsen
Maximiliano 'max' GonzalezPast 3 months
9z
Maximiliano 'max' Gonzalez
Franco 'dgt' Garcia
Ignacio 'meyern' Meyer
Luciano 'luchov' Herrera
Matias 'HUASOPEEK' Ibañez Hernandez
Bruno 'BIT' Fukuda Lima