MAJ3R on Thunderpick World Championship 2025: “I think we have chance because the top three is not here”

The Thunderpick World Championship is underway here in Malta. Before two extremely busy group stage days, we got the chance to catch up with Engin “MAJ3R” Küpeli to talk all about the tournament, Aurora’s recent performance, and more.

MAJ3R on Aurora’s troubles, and chances to improve at the Thunderpick World Championship

Daniel Morris: Obviously, we come here on the back of quite a rough exit for you guys. Last time out, what were the main things that you were able to try and improve in quite a short space of time?

MAJ3R: Yeah, we just did our practice like usual and we came here with one goal is to win the trophy. So we’re going to do our best for that.

Daniel: But I think a lot of people expected this team to take that next step and finally get that LAN trophy under your belt. Looking at the teams at the Thunderpick World Championship, how do you feel about your chances in Malta?

MAJ3R: I think we have the same chance that other teams have. So nowadays in Counter-Strike, like I think you have to be in good form if you want to win a trophy. So I think we have chance because the top three is not here, but there is still a very dangerous team here, to be honest. And like I told you, we will do our best to lift that trophy and we will see.

Daniel: Well, earlier this year, you guys took a little bit of a hit with Anubis being taken out of your map pool, which was almost like home turf for your team. Do you think you’ve taken a little bit of a hit in the second half of the year with those map pool changes?

MAJ3R: Yes. As an in-game leader, losing Anubis was not easy, to be honest. Actually, the map pool, we work a lot on our map pool to be competitive in all the maps. But yes, to answer your question specifically, losing Anubis was difficult and I think the bad results, it’s not 100% because of Anubis, but it’s part of it for sure.

Daniel: You’ve obviously got Venom up first, a team I think most people won’t know too much about. Do you feel any added pressure coming into a game against a team like this where you’re expected to win?

MAJ3R: No, I think Venom is a teams with individually players really good. Like I told you, like in the good days in Counter-Strike, everyone can beat everyone. So I think we need to be focused on that match tomorrow. I think they will be really hunger to win. They will have a big anger to win this match. They want to show a lot of things. I think it’s a young team so we have to be focused on that and just play our games. And I think if we play our games, it will be okay. But I’m not stressing for tomorrow.

Daniel: Obviously, in Group B, there’s also the potential that you could face NAVI at some point. They beat you 2-0 last time out. Is that clash something that you’ve maybe got a potential eye on if and that you’re ready for if it comes down to it, or do you think you know where things went wrong in that particular matchup last time?

MAJ3R: Yeah, I’m not thinking about NAVI right now. I’m thinking about Venom. After that, [if] we won Venom, and if NAVI won Imperial, I think we’re gonna think about NAVI, like, step by step. It’s always a good match, you know, against NAVI or any other teams right now. Some in the top 10, you know, and the mistake we did the last time was the mistake that usually team do, like losing an eco or something, you know. And I think on a good day, if we are good individually, that’s what we lack of the last tournament. I think individually, we were not very good, a lot of players, my teammates. So I think individually in this tournament, if we are in good form, I think we can beat easily any team here. But we will see in the first match against Venom how we feel, how the team is feeling, and we’re going to work on that.

You can watch MAJ3R in Aurora vs. Venom at the Thunderpick World Championship 2025 on the Thunderpick Twitch channel.