Thunderpick World Championship 2026

The Thunderpick World Championship is officially returning in 2026, coming back for the fourth consecutive year. Bigger and better than ever, the event sees eight CS2 teams head to Malta to compete for one of the biggest championships of the year between October 12 and 19, 2026.

Thunderpick World Championship 2026 Format

The Thunderpick World Championship 2026 adopts the same format as the previous year.

• Two GSL groups featuring four teams each, two teams from each group advance to the Playoffs
• Single-elimination bracket Playoffs
• Third-placed decider is played
• All matches are best-of-three, except the best-of-five Grand Final

Thunderpick World Championship 2026 Prize Pool

The Thunderpick World Championship 2026 features a massive $1,000,000 prize pool, with the distribution between teams and players as follows:

Thunderpick World Championship 2026 Teams

There are eight teams competing in the Thunderpick World Championship 2026. Seven teams will be invited via the Global VRS, with the sole remaining team qualifying through the Closed Qualifier. Teams from around the world will first compete in online regional qualifiers to attempt to reach the Closed Qualifier, at which point a spot in the main event will be on the line.

We’ll have the complete list of Thunderpick World Championship 2026 teams closer to the event date. Invites are sent out based on the VRS on August 3, 2026.

Where To Watch Thunderpick World Championship 2026

All matches in the Thunderpick World Championship 2026 will be streamed live on the official Thunderpick Twitch channel.