The Thunderpick World Championship 2025 starts off with a fun one: FURIA vs OG. Two teams with plenty to prove, both unpredictable in completely different ways.
Let’s talk FURIA first. The Brazilians have been through another round of roster tweaks this year, and somehow, it’s starting to look like it’s paying off. FalleN’s still the brain and the steady hand – while KSCERATO and yuurih keep pumping out those consistent fragging numbers. The new blood, molodoy and YEKINDAR, seem to have added some much-needed balance to their style. It’s not the all-in chaos we used to see from them, but when things start clicking, they look sharp. Recent form’s been all over the place though. They’ll beat teams like The MongolZ or Falcons one day, then lose to HOTU the next. Classic FURIA stuff.
As for OG, it’s been a slow rebuild but a noticeable one. With their latest addition of arrozdoce from NiP, their lineup looks like this: Chr1zN (IGL), adamb, spooke, nicoodoz, and arrozdoce. All of them are relatively familiar to the CS community, and they finally seem to have an idea of what kind of team they want to be. Their structure looks cleaner, the trading’s sharper, and the discipline has actually improved. They still have those off days where everything falls apart, but they’re no longer the “free win” some used to think they were. Against teams like FURIA, they usually try to drag the pace down and punish every overpeek – and they’ve gotten pretty good at that lately.
Map pool could be where this one swings. FURIA will probably aim for Mirage or Inferno, where their players can take fights early and feel comfortable. OG might steer things toward Nuke or Overpass, hoping to make it more tactical and less about raw duels. I don’t think either side will completely run over the other – it feels like the kind of series that drags out.
If I had to lean one way, FURIA’s the safe pick. They’ve got more firepower across the board and FalleN’s experience gives them an edge when things get scrappy. Still, OG have that annoying knack for showing up exactly when you stop expecting it. If they start strong and find some early rhythm, they can absolutely stretch this to three maps.
Odds are understandably tilted toward FURIA, but this matchup rarely plays out clean. Expect a mix of brilliance and slips from both sides, a few tilted rounds, and probably a map that goes way too close for comfort.
My gut says FURIA 2-0 – but don’t be surprised if OG turn this opener into a proper brawl and snag one map.
