The MongolZ claim 3rd at Thunderpick World Championship over Aurora

The MongolZ closed their Thunderpick World Championship 2025 run on a high by beating Aurora in the third-place decider. After dropping Inferno in overtime (14–16), the Mongolian side steadied the ship on Mirage (13–10) and edged out Nuke in OT (16–14) to seal the series 2–1. Rising star Azbayar “Senzu” Munkhbold was the difference-maker, topping the server on Mirage and finishing the series with a 1.42 rating; The MongolZ also prevailed in five key clutches on Nuke to get over the line. 

Aurora will be left with regrets. They led 8–4 in both opening halves but couldn’t convert their starts, and their overall head-to-head with The MongolZ slipped to 1–5 this year. Even so, Engin “MAJ3R” Küpeli had kept them in striking distance throughout the event; he’d recently admitted that Aurora’s late-rounds had “been a disaster… the situations we lost still give me nightmares,” after a painful Dust2 collapse versus NAVI in groups. 

How the event finished

Champions: FURIA (3–2 vs NAVI in the BO5 grand final), with Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato earning his first career HLTV MVP (“Everything in God’s time, you know?”). 

3rd/4th: The MongolZ / Aurora. Event ran Oct 15–19 in Malta with an $850,000 prize pool and a third-place decider in the playoff bracket.

Road to the podium (The MongolZ)

Groups: Qualified by sweeping 9z (2–0). 

Playoffs: Fell to NAVI 1–2 in a close semi (won Nuke, lost Mirage & Ancient). NAVI’s Aleksib later noted MongolZ’s long-standing comfort on Mirage: “They’ve smashed us on it and we’ve smashed them on it,” so their pick wasn’t a surprise. 

Third-place decider: Beat Aurora 2–1 behind Senzu’s heroics and a run of clutches on Nuke. 

Aurora’s path & reflections

Aurora scraped into playoffs by eliminating Venom after a shaky groups run, then were swept by FURIA in the semi as star rifler İsmailcan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş endured an off day (0.64 rating). Post-qualification, MAJ3R was candid about the team’s recent T-side issues and lost clutches, saying the group-stage implosion versus NAVI still “gives me nightmares.” 

Voices from the event

KSCERATO (FURIA MVP): “First MVP, I’m so happy. Everything in God’s time, you know?” He also described the locker-room talk that sparked the grand-final reverse sweep from 0–2 down.

Aleksib (NAVI IGL): On MongolZ picking Mirage in the semi: “Not a surprise… they’ve historically loved this map.” He also pointed to a ‘hero AK’ round as pivotal on Ancient.

MAJ3R (Aurora IGL): “In the last few tournaments our clutches have been a disaster… I rewatched the [NAVI] match several times and I still can’t believe the way we threw that game.”

FalleN (FURIA captain): “We postponed our break to play [here] because we want to give back to Malta,” after topping Aurora in the semi.

Fast facts & stats

Third-place series: Inferno 14–16 (Aurora), Mirage 13–10 (The MongolZ), Nuke 16–14 OT (The MongolZ). Senzu posted a 2.00 rating on Mirage and The MongolZ won five clutches on Nuke.

Event overview: Malta, Oct 15–19; $850k prize pool; BO3 groups, BO3 playoffs, BO5 grand final, with a third-place decider.