Falcons beat 9z 2-1 in the Thunderpick World Championship 2026 Group A upper bracket final to secure passage to the tournament's playoffs. The South American squad will replay Aurora, a team they beat in the opening round, in the group's lower bracket for a last chance to make it to the final four.
The series got underway on 9z's Nuke pick, but Falcons were firmly in control on the CT side, winning the pistol round with a set three-man piece on Ramp to stop a push with four kills by Maksim "kyousuke" Lukin, after which they went on to take a 7-1 lead.
9z took three of the last four before the switch, but it wasn't enough, even after winning the second pistol round and following it up to bring the map within two rounds. Falcons won four straight with rifles in play to hit map point, 12-6, before closing it out four rounds later.
Luciano "luchov" Herrera, 9z's shining star, posted a 1.20 on the first map, but it was only a taste, as he went on to post a 2.06 with a +9.68% swing on Mirage, leading the charge in a 13-8 win. On the flip side, kyousuke struggled mightily, posting his eighth lowest-rated map since joining Falcons, a 0.54.
Dust2 was very much under Falcons' control from the get-go as they won the first pistol round on the attack and went on to take an 8-4 lead at the half — a far cry from the last time the two teams met at PGL Astana, where 9z won the map 13-1.
The European squad then reached 11 just four rounds into the second half, and although 9z made a last push to bring it back, they fell short, with the Finn "karrigan" Andersen-led squad punching their ticket to the playoffs, 13-9.
Maksim 'kyousuke' LukinPast 3 months
9z
Maximiliano 'max' Gonzalez
Franco 'dgt' Garcia
Ignacio 'meyern' Meyer
Luciano 'luchov' Herrera
Matias 'HUASOPEEK' Ibañez Hernandez
Bruno 'BIT' Fukuda Lima
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
Finn 'karrigan' AndersenPast 3 months