BLEED qualify for Thunderpick World Championship

The hampus-led squad traversed the 32-team single-elimination bracket.

faveN finished the qualifier as BLEED's highest-rated player

BLEED have qualified for the Thunderpick World Championship after winning the first European closed qualifier, where they beat Gaimin Gladiators in the final with a 2-0 scoreline (Overpass 13-10, Ancient 13-8).

The qualification comes as a boon for a BLEED side that has been up against it ever since its inception at the start of the year. Due to their belated signing, BLEED found themselves scrambling to ready for the RMR qualifiers, which ultimately left the organization without a Major spot, and results failed to pick up in the coming months.

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BLEED then replaced Laurențiu "⁠lauNX⁠" Țârlea with Vladan "⁠VLDN⁠" Radević and immediately improved with the Serb on the roster, placing second in the RES Regional Series 1 Europe and winning Thunderpick World Championship closed qualifier. The team also sits on a 2-0 record in the Elisa Invitational Spring group stage and has advanced to the quarter-final of RES Regional Series 2 Europe, where they have been matched against Sangal.

Date	Matches
Thunderpick World Championship 2024 EU Closed Qualifier 1
02/04/2024	BLEED Finished 2:1 Passion UA	Match
16/04/2024	KOI Finished 1:2 BLEED	Match
19/04/2024	Sampi Finished 1:2 BLEED	Match
21/04/2024	BLEED Finished 2:0 BIG	Match
22/04/2024	BLEED Finished 2:0 Gaimin Gladiators	Match

Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser and company had a rough start to the qualifier as they narrowly avoided the upset in the first three rounds. First, they edged out Passion UA in a three-map affair before beating KOI in another marathon match, where they won the final two maps of the series in overtime.

Another close match against Sampi followed, but BLEED then shifted into a higher gear to beat BIG and Gaimin Gladiators, who were their highest-ranked test at the qualifier, to book their spot at the Thunderpick World Championship.

Josef "⁠faveN⁠" Baumann, hampus, and Cai "⁠CYPHER⁠" Watson all took turns providing firepower to the team across the event and finished the qualifier with a rating higher than 1.13, while VLDN and primary AWPer Tsvetelin "⁠CeRq⁠" Dimitrov averaged a 0.99 rating.

BLEED are the first team to qualify for the 16-team online event, which is set to culminate in a four-team $750,000 LAN final in a yet undisclosed location. Five more spots will be filled through regional qualifiers, with the rest of the teams set to receive direct invites.