The European Qualifier 1 for the Thunderpick World Championship (TWC) 2024 delivered heart-pounding Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) esports action. With a single-elimination bracket format and best-of-three matches, there was little room for error. The result was an electrifying atmosphere packed with highlights.
Join us as we share our favorite moments from the TWC EU Qualifier 1 event to celebrate the best matches and exciting results for those who couldn’t watch the action live.
Remember to check out our CS2 betting odds on Thunderpick!
Please note: The rankings mentioned in this article reflect HLTV’s expert world rankings at the start of the TWC 2024 EU Qualifier 1.
TWC EU Qualifier 1
Sampi Denies NIP And SAW
In the Round of 32, we already saw a huge upset, as the Slovakian organization, Team Sampi, crushed the hopes of the legendary Swedish organization, Ninjas in Pyjamas (NIP) with a dramatic 2-1 victory. Due to a number of roster changes, NIP was simply unranked and untested.
Heading into the TWC 2024 EU Qualifier 1, Team Sampi was ranked 63rd in the world, and their opponent in the Round of 16, SAW, was ranked 17th. Despite being outranked, Team Sampi pulled out all the stops to beat SAW 2-1 to secure a top-eight placement. BLEED Esports eventually took down Team Sampi in the Quarterfinals, but the Slovakian team had a fantastic run that featured two exciting upsets.
AMKAL Sweeps ENCE
With the legendary Danish IGL and four-time Major winner Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander leading ENCE, they were the squad to beat heading into the TWC 2024 EU Qualifier 1, ranking 11th globally. On the other side of the server, AMKAL was ranked 32nd.
Despite being the clear favorite, ENCE couldn’t win a single map. AMKAL came out swinging on Overpass to secure a 1-0 lead with a 13-11 win. On the second map, Nuke, ENCE took a commanding 8-4 lead on the T side, and fans were sure a third map was in sight. However, AMKAL would not be denied their 2-0 victory and pushed back to win Nuke 13-10, knocking out the tournament favorites with a relatively clean 2-0 win. Many fans consider AMKAL 2-0’ing ENCE the upset of the tournament.
BLEED Esports Stuns BIG
German powerhouse BIG was on a rampage at the TWC 2024 EU Qualifier 1, convincingly beating LEON Esports and EYEBALLERS with 2-0 score lines. They then had a close call against GamerLegion, with the second map going into overtime. At the same time, BLEED Esports, ranked 45th heading into the event, narrowly beat its first three opponents.
BIG was a clear favorite, but BLEED Esports didn’t care. BLEED Esports beat BIG 13-11 on Inferno and 13-10 on Vertigo to sweep the German side, delivering one of the biggest upsets of the TWC 2024 EU Qualifier 1. German rifler Josef “faveN” Baumann stood out as the best player for BLEED Esports in the match against BIG. He had a whopping 1.68 HLTV rating, thanks to a Kill to Death score of 45-19—an incredible feat across two maps of play.
Gaimin Gladiators Reverse-Sweeps AMKAL
After AMKAL knocked out three opponents, including event favorites ENCE, many fans believed they would go all the way. Unfortunately for AMKAL, the Danish squad Gaimin Gladiators (formerly the ECSTATIC roster until April 14, 2024) had other plans. In the Semifinal of the TWC 2024 EU Qualifier 1, AMKAL took a match lead of 1-0 with a clear and decisive win on Vertigo, beating Gaimin Gladiators 13-7.
Everyone loves a good comeback story, and Gaimin Gladiators delivered! The Danish team pulled one back on Inferno with a 13-8 win, forcing AMKAL to a third and deciding map. On Overpass, Gaimin Gladiators didn’t take their foot off the gas and closed the series with a 13-8 map win, eliminating AMKAL with a reverse sweep.
BLEED Esports Sweeps Gaimin Gladiators
Going into the tournament, BLEED Esports was ranked 45th globally. Their odds of winning the TWC 2024 EU Qualifier 1 were slim. That didn’t stop the roster and their Serbian coach, Aleksandar “kassad” Trifunović, from pulling off win after win and playing from behind on multiple occasions.
To reach the grand final and face Gaimin Gladiators, BLEED Esports pulled off three comebacks in a row, reverse-sweeping Passion UA, KOI, and Sampi and then 2-0’ing BIG.
It was clear that as the tournament progressed, BLEED Esports’ confidence grew exponentially. In the Grand Final of the TWC 2024 EU Qualifier 1, BLEED Esports scored a solid 13-10 win on Overpass and finished off proceedings with a 13-8 victory on Inferno. AWPer CeRq scored an impressive 31 kills to 23 deaths for BLEED Esports, while Rifler faveN again stole the show with 36 kills to 26 deaths.
If you couldn’t watch the CS2 esports action live, you can check out the video of the Grand Final between BLEED Esports and Gaimin Gladiators below.
BLEED Esports CS2 Roster
You may have seen kassad as a Broadcast Analyst at multiple significant esports events. Well, the Serbian talent is also a long-time coach, in case you didn’t know, and it was fantastic to see BLEED Esports shine so brightly under his leadership. You’ll find the BLEED Esports roster below.
- Tsvetelin “CeRq” Dimitrov
- Josef “faveN” Baumann
- Cai “CYPHER” Watson
- Vladan “VLDN” Radević
- Hampus “hampus” Poser (IGL)
We can’t wait to see BLEED Esports compete in the World Finals of the TWC 2024, starting on Oct. 1, 2024, with the Round of 16. Congratulations on earning a coveted spot!
TWC 2024 EU Qualifier 1 Top 8 Standings
Below are the top eight from the TWC 2024 EU Qualifier 1, including the prize pool distribution.
- 1st place: BLEED Esports wins $20,000 and a spot at the TWC 2024.
- 2nd place: Gaimin Gladiators wins $5,000.
- 3rd & 4th place: AMKAL ESPORTS & BIG
- 5th to 8th place: Team Sampi, ENCE, Nemiga Gaming and GamerLegion.
Remember, each of the six TWC 2024 qualifiers features a prize pool of $25,000. The main event, scheduled for October 2024, features $850,000 in prize money, giving the best CS2 teams a cool $1 million to compete for throughout the qualifiers and main event.
Check out our TWC 2024 schedule and prize pool distribution announcement. After all, CS2 esports fans have five more qualifiers to look forward to!
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