Welcome to sunny Malta, a place with a very rich history in CS. By rich, we of course mean in terms of money, and as is often the case round these parts, a huge stack of it is up for grabs this weekend courtesy of Thunderpick.

Eight teams have shown up to do battle, with many of the top teams choosing to skip the event, opening up a chance for the underdogs to take important wins.

Action kicked off on Wednesday with precisely such a match, as 9z took down Aurora in a surprise 2-0 victory. It’s a strong win for 9z, but we’re inclined to say it’s yet another aberration from Aurora. It’s very difficult to know just how good that team is right now.

Falcons took down NIP, who took on the daring task of attending two LAN events in the same week, in two different cities four hours away. After having lost to Aurora, we honestly think they’re relieved they didn’t survive to day three.

9z showed some sign of life in the winner’s game against Falcons, but a 2-1 for the latter side sets them up as group winners.

Over in group B, Brazil conquered Russia in both opening series as Legacy, once again with arT, and FURIA prevailed over BETBOOM and PARIVISION. A three-map affair in the elimination game crowned BETBOOM as the stronger of the two, sending PARIVISION home with yet another disappointing group stage exit.

The Brazilian derby became a late affair as the two teams traded each other’s map picks to set up a deciding Mirage game for the group win. A more or less painless affair for FURIA to book their spot straight into the semifinal - crucially avoiding Falcons in the first round.

With Falcons and FURIA locked in for playoffs, this sets up a deciding rematch between Aurora and 9z, while Legacy will take on BETBOOM for the final spot in the semifinals. Realistically, we should see two Brazilian teams in the playoffs, but we’ve seen enough of this team to know you can’t ever count out Boombl4.

Is any of this interesting for the Major race, or a prestigious trophy? Absolutely f-cking not, but it’s CS, init?