M80 beats Wildcard in Thunderpick NA final amid forfeits

M80 beat Wildcard 2-0 in the grand final of the Thunderpick World Championship 2026 North America on Sunday. The eight-team playoff saw only two matches played; five of seven playoff matchups were decided by forfeits after teams were unable to field eligible lineups.

Organizers listed the final as completed on Sunday and awarded M80 the title. Several matchups were advanced without gameplay, altering the planned bracket schedule for the weekend.

In the final, Fritz “slaxz-” Dietrich led all players with a 47-26 kill-death line, an 82.9 average damage per round and a 1.48 rating. Elias “s1n” Stein recorded 35-27 and Michael “Swisher” Schmid finished 32-26. Wildcard’s Jadan “HexT” Postma posted 34-30 with a 1.26 rating, and Miłosz “mhL” Knasiak was 38-32 with a 1.06 rating. M80 starters Josh “JBa” Barutt and Mason “Lake” Sanderson registered negative swings in the box score.

The victory moved M80 to 24th in the global VRS. The team secured invitations to IEM Atlanta and the CS Asia Championships and will travel to Europe for the Cologne Major.

Organizers attributed the walkovers to teams being unable to field players who met event eligibility rules. The number of forfeits prompted questions about roster readiness and the enforcement of eligibility rules across regional teams.