Aurora and Venom wrap up the opening round of the Thunderpick World Championship 2025, and it’s hard for me to see this going any other way than in Aurora’s favor. Aurora rolls the “big name, big expectations” load; Venom are here to test just how deep their fight can go.

Aurora have been holding solid form lately. They’ve shown they can play both the fast-paced games and the slower, more controlled ones, depending on what the situation calls for. XANTARES still leads the firepower charge together with Wicadia, woxic’s been consistent with the AWP, and MAJ3R’s calling has brought the group the structure it needed. They’re looking sharp across the board, and their recent showings back that up.

Venom, meanwhile, have a much tougher hill to climb. The team fields innocent, Sobol, Flayy, Qlocuu, and hfah – a decent mix of experience and young guns, but they haven’t faced many teams on Aurora’s level lately. They’re scrappy and unpredictable, and if they start strong, they can definitely make things uncomfortable (they swept NiP and Nemiga in the qualifiers). But over a full best-of-three, it’s hard to imagine them keeping pace if Aurora hit their usual rhythm.

Heading into the Thunderpick World Championship 2025, Aurora have already been showing that they’re not just another contender — they’re one of the squads you actually expect to go deep. When it comes to maps, I don’t think they have any major weaknesses. They’re strong on Mirage, Inferno, and Nuke, and even their Overpass has been solid. Venom might try to swing things toward Dust2 or Train to turn it into more of a brawl and snag a map in the chaos. But I think Aurora’s structure and aim advantage make that a tough plan to pull off.

Realistically, this matchup feels like Aurora’s to control from start to finish. Venom can take rounds, maybe even push a map close, but the gap in quality is clear.

Unless Aurora completely switch off, a clean 2-0 looks like the most likely outcome.