Updated 27 September 2026, 20:00
The 1win Private Club in Belgrade runs from Friday to Monday with eight teams on the server – six invited, two coming through qualification. SINNERS, the roster with two Czech players, got in via the qualifier as the lowest seed of the entire field, and in the opening round they landed the biggest punch of the event so far.
SINNERS take down the top seed
The draw handed them the hardest possible start: Swedish side Alliance, the number one seed of the tournament and winners of the earlier Tipsport Conquest of Prague. It did not scare them. On Dust II, SINNERS closed it out 13:7 behind a strong showing from Max „SHOCK“ Kvapil. Alliance levelled the series on their own pick, Inferno, and everything came down to Ancient – where SINNERS ran away with it 13:5, dropping a single round on the CT side in the second half.
The win is worth 60 VRS points, which for a team starting at the very bottom of the ranking is exactly the kind of currency they came for.
Then came Ninjas in Pyjamas
The upper bracket run stopped one round later. SINNERS lost 1:2 to Ninjas in Pyjamas despite a good start: they took the opening map, Ancient, 13:10 on the back of a strong CT side. Cache followed, and after a tight first half SINNERS went down, letting NiP level the series. The decider on Inferno then turned into a nightmare – SINNERS lost it 0:13.
That result pushes them into the Lower Bracket, which is not purely bad news. More matches also mean more chances to collect VRS points along the way. Their next opponent is K27 on Sunday from 11:00.
What is actually at stake
The prize pool sits at $100,000, but for most of the field the real reward is elsewhere: VRS points that shape the rest of the season. Three of the participants can pull the PGL Major within reach by lifting the trophy, while everyone else needs at least a deep run – without one, their odds after Belgrade fall close to zero. SINNERS have made no secret of their goal: win the whole 1win Private Club and book the trip to the Major in Singapore.
Being the lowest seed sounds like a handicap, and in one sense it is. But it cuts both ways: the lower you start, the more a strong result is worth in points. Individual wins alone simply will not move the needle enough here, which makes this event genuinely all or nothing. The Czech scene has had a busy stretch lately – we also covered SINNERS at Stake Pulse Beat III, and you can follow the rest of the season through our Counter-Strike 2 news.
The math behind the Major race
X analyst Udknud put together an overview of how much each result at the 1win Private Club is worth in the Major race, and it lays out the SINNERS situation perfectly. Anything short of the grand final leaves them, after recalculation, with no more than a 2% chance at the Major. Reaching the final pushes them only slightly above 5 percent. Winning the whole thing lifts their chances to 18.5% – and that is exactly the number the team is staring at.
Format, field and the rest of the schedule
The 1win Private Club uses a Double Elimination format, which allows for exactly one slip-up: through the upper bracket, four wins are needed for the title; after an early loss, it takes five.
- Besides SINNERS and Alliance, the start list features GamerLegion, 3DMAX, magic, Ninjas in Pyjamas, K27 and EYEBALLERS.
- NiP reached the second round by beating 3DMAX in the opening round.
- SINNERS meet K27 in the Lower Bracket on Sunday from 11:00.
- The whole event is streamed on w.tv.
The weekend has been packed in other ways too. On Friday, SINNERS were knocked out of the Stake Ranked qualifier, and after the loss to NiP they head into the play-off stage of the NODWIN Clutch Series 12 against QUAZAR.
Where to read next
If you want the wider context of where this Major cycle is heading, we also wrote about the Shanghai Major, and for the domestic calendar there is our piece on Tipsport MČR CS 2026.
FAQ
They won 2:1. SINNERS took Dust II 13:7 thanks to Max „SHOCK“ Kvapil, Alliance levelled on Inferno, and the decider on Ancient went to SINNERS 13:5 – they lost only one round on the CT side in the second half.
SINNERS lost 1:2. They won Ancient 13:10 with a strong CT side, then fell on Cache after a balanced first half, and the decider on Inferno ended 0:13 for NiP.
They drop into the Lower Bracket, where more matches also mean more opportunities to collect VRS points. Their next opponent is K27 on Sunday from 11:00.
Anything less than the grand final leaves them below a 2% Major chance. The final is worth just over 5%, and only the title would push them to 18.5%. Their stated goal is to win the event and reach the Major in Singapore.
Double Elimination – four wins through the upper bracket, five if the team drops a series early. The field also includes GamerLegion, 3DMAX, magic, Ninjas in Pyjamas, K27 and EYEBALLERS, with a $100,000 prize pool.