{"id":16848,"date":"2026-10-18T10:42:53","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T10:42:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thunderpick.io\/blog\/?p=16848"},"modified":"2026-10-18T11:07:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T11:07:34","slug":"twc26-playoff-day1-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thunderpick.io\/blog\/twc26-playoff-day1-recap","title":{"rendered":"Falcons fall short at Thunderpick World Championship 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Falcons<\/a> came into TWC 2026 as the overall favorites to lift the trophy and secure the lion’s share of a 1.15 million dollar USD prize pool. The Grand Finals of the Thunderpick World Championship<\/a> 2026 would be absent Saudi’s Superteam, after an upset loss to BB Team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another Titan Felled<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

BBTeam came in with humble expectations but have picked up upset win after upset win. They opened the Group Stage<\/a> with a loss to their fellow finalists, FURIA, but have picked up nothing but wins<\/a> since then. 2-1 over PARIVISION to keep the dream alive, then again against Legacy, helping cut down the number of Brazillian Teams from 3 down to just 1. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boombl4 has lead the charge as a consistent force within the team, and some highlight rounds from zorte flipped important momentum swings in their favor. With a slot in the playoffs booked, most would expect that the tournament favorites – Team Falcons, would be bringing an end to their run in a more than respectable Top 4 finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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ft. Thunderpick World Championship \/ Joao Ferreira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The first map going 13-5 to Falcons <\/strong>and a strong run through Dust II<\/em> seemed to nail that enivitability home, but some important rounds stemmed the bleeding. Slowly the rounds crept up and the first to 12 was the Russian squad. OT ended in 3 with BBT being one of the few teams that have managed to take the map from this star-studded squad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be it burnout, the pressure of expectations, or a young team taking the unexpected runway and taking flight, BB <\/strong>wrestled Mirage <\/em>away from Team Falcons<\/strong>, going even in the first half 6-6. They would concede the pistol, but that would be the last round that NiKo <\/a>and Karrigan’s<\/em> squad would take, being flipped in the eco round and beginning a snowball that would stop for no-one. One more huge win for the squad, and a rematch with the team that beat them to open up their time here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heavy is the crown<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While they may not have been on the strongest form coming into the event, the FURIA<\/strong> team have very much made Malta their stomping ground. In front of a crowd that weren’t shy to make their allegiances known, the defending Thunderpick World Championship<\/a> Champions breezed through Aurora<\/a> Gaming. The boys in green’s only losses would only come from Brazilian teams, losing initially to 9z<\/a>, and having their 2nd and permanent loss on the back of the strongest team from the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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