HEROIC book playoff spot at Thunderpick World Championship

HEROIC earned consecutive victories on Wednesday to finish atop Group C and claim a quarterfinal berth at the Thunderpick World Championship in Berlin.

Following a 2-1 victory over Legacy, HEROIC thrashed Ninjas in Pyjamas 2-0 to advance.

In the other opening-round Group C match, Ninjas in Pyjamas downed Imperial Esports 2-1. Imperial subsequently nipped Legacy 2-1 in an elimination match.

The final Group C playoff berth will be up for grabs on Friday when Ninjas in Pyjamas and Imperial square off.

The $850,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament began Monday and runs through Nov. 3.

A series of qualifiers in Europe, North America and South America set the 16-team field for the World Championship. The teams are divided into four groups of four teams. Each group plays a double-elimination tournament (best-of-three format), with the group winner advancing to the quarterfinals and the second- and third-place teams playing a decider match for the group's other spot in the quarterfinals.

The single-elimination playoffs are best-of-three except for the final, which will be best-of-five. The championship team will take home $500,000, while the runner-up will get $150,000.

In the Group C winners match, HEROIC handled Ninjas in Pyjamas 13-2 on Dust II, 13-10 on Vertigo.

Russia's Abdul "degster" Gasanov powered HEROIC with 33 kills and a plus-11 kill-death differential. Sweden's Jacob "jocab" Nerheden topped Ninjas in Pyjamas with 27 kills.

HEROIC opened with a 16-14 overtime win on Ancient before Legacy rebounded with a 16-13 overtime victory on Dust II. The decisive third map, Anubis, went to HEROIC by a 13-8 count.

Denmark's Rene "TeSeS" Madsen finished with 64 kills and a plus-8 K-D differential for HEROIC. Guilherme "saadzin" Pacheco wound up with 59 kills and a plus-8 K-D differential for Legacy's all-Brazilian squad.

Ninjas in Pyjamas captured Vertigo 13-7, but Imperial Esports replied with a 13-7 win on Nuke. The decider, Mirage, went to double overtime before Ninjas in Pyjamas prevailed 19-17.

Ukraine's Artem "r1nkle" Moroz starred for Ninjas in Pyjamas, producing 64 kills and a plus-12 K-D differential. Brazil's Joao "felps" Vasconcellos amassed 59 kills and a plus-6 K-D differential for Imperial.

In the Group C elimination match, Imperial sandwiched a 13-8 win on Dust II and a 13-11 victory on Mirage over a 13-11 loss to Legacy on Inferno.

Argentina's Santino "try" Rigal carried Imperial with 64 kills and a plus-25 K-D differential. Eduardo "dumau" Wolkmer and Bruno "latto" Rebelatto each had 52 kills for Legacy.

The group phase concludes Thursday with action in Group D. In the opening matches, Aurora Gaming will meet BIG, and M80 will up against BESTIA.

Thunderpick World Championship prize pool

1. $500,000

2. $150,000

3. $70,000

4. $50,000

5-8. $20,000

9-12. no money

13-16. no money -- Team Falcons, 9z Team, Legacy, one other team TBD

--Field Level Media