(Photo credit: Shawn Dowd)

Team Falcons and FURIA secured playoff berths while Aurora Gaming and BetBoom Team avoided elimination Thursday at the Thunderpick World Championship in Attard, Malta.

Falcons defeated 9z Team 2-1 in the Group A winners match, while FURIA rallied past Legacy 2-1 in Group B. Aurora swept Ninjas in Pyjamas 2-0 in the Group A elimination match, and BetBoom eliminated PARIVISION with a 2-1 victory in Group B.

The $1 million Counter-Strike 2 event features eight teams divided into two groups for the double-elimination opening round. All matches are best-of-three, and the top two teams from each group advance to the single-elimination playoffs.

Playoff matches will be best-of-three until the grand final on Sunday, which will be best-of-five. The championship team will receive $500,000, half going to the club and half going to the players.

Aurora stayed alive by beating Ninjas in Pyjamas 13-9 on Cache and 13-7 on Dust II. Turkey's Ali 'Wicadia' Haydar Yalcin led Aurora with 45 kills and a plus-20 kill-death differential. Germany's Karim 'Krimbo' Moussa had 32 kills for Ninjas in Pyjamas, who were eliminated.

Falcons took Nuke 13-9 before 9z responded with a 13-8 victory on Mirage. Falcons closed out the series 13-9 on Dust II. Denmark's Rene 'TeSeS' Madsen finished with 47 kills and a plus-7 K-D differential for Falcons. Argentina's Luciano 'luchov' Herrera recorded a match-high 49 kills and a plus-4 differential for 9z.

BetBoom recovered from a 13-10 loss on Ancient by routing PARIVISION 13-4 on Anubis and winning Mirage 13-7. Russia's Aleksandr 'zorte' Zagodyrenko amassed 51 kills and a plus-17 K-D differential for BetBoom. Russia's Vladislav 'xiELO' Lysov had 45 kills for PARIVISION, which was eliminated.

Legacy opened with a 13-10 victory over FURIA on Cache, but FURIA answered with a 13-5 win on Inferno and a 13-8 decision on Mirage. Kazakhstan's Danil 'molodoy' Golubenko paced FURIA with 48 kills and a plus-13 K-D differential. Brazil's Eduardo 'dumau' Wolkmer totaled 45 kills for Legacy.

The Friday schedule:

--Group A decider match: Aurora Gaming vs. 9z Team

--Group B decider match: BetBoom Team vs. Legacy

Thunderpick World Championship prize pool (all money evenly divided between player prize money and team share)

1. $500,000

2. $250,000

3. $100,000

4. $50,000

5-6. $30,000

7-8. $20,000 -- Ninjas in Pyjamas, PARIVISION

--Field Level Media