Updated 17 September 2026, 13:53
September turned into a qualifier marathon for the Czech scene, and the second open qualifier for Stake Pulse Beat III ended the same way as the first one: without a Czech team in the later rounds. Both SINNERS and BRUTE were knocked out in the quarterfinals, which also means the much-discussed domestic derby between them never happened.
How you get into Stake Pulse Beat III
The organizers split the field in two. Out of all the applications, fourteen teams with the highest VRS standing were taken directly. Everyone else had to grind through one of the two online qualifiers, which is exactly where both Czech rosters were fighting. That makes the open bracket brutally dense – it is packed with teams that missed the VRS cut, it runs in Single Elimination, and one bad map ends the run.
If you want to follow the Czech scene more broadly, we cover it regularly in our Counter-Strike 2 section.
The first attempt: a wall named Noir Verse
SINNERS looked sharp in their opening try. They cut through the bracket into the quarterfinals, which left them three wins short of qualification. Two of those matches were one-sided wins and the duel against the MOUZ NXT academy squad went to overtime, where SINNERS held on. The run then stopped against Noir Verse, before the Czech team could even reach the decider stage. BRUTE fell earlier – their journey ended in the second round against YATOROGOD.
Second qualifier: SINNERS collapse on Ancient
The second attempt started well. SINNERS handled the opening rounds with two comfortable wins and then squeezed past the Polish side Teletubisie 13:11. The quarterfinal against another Polish team, Phantom Esports, is the one that will hurt for a while: on Ancient, SINNERS built a 10:2 lead in the first half and still lost the map 11:13.
BRUTE ran straight into s1mple
BRUTE actually looked better than in the first qualifier. They took two easy wins and one close one in the early rounds, and in overtime they eliminated X-CITY, a semifinalist of the previous event. Their reward was a quarterfinal against Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev and BC.Game, and that is where it ended – 8:13 on Cache.
BC.Game finally break through
BC.Game had failed to get through the previous five qualifiers, and this time they went all the way and secured the trip to Stockholm. In the final against Sasha Esport, s1mple posted a 1.74 K/D ratio, and the Mongolian duo in the roster also put up strong performances. The full bracket is available on Liquipedia.
What it means for you
For Czech fans, the takeaway is simple: two qualifiers, two quarterfinal exits, and no Stake Pulse Beat III slot so far. SINNERS have twice proven they can get deep into an open bracket against international opposition, but the closing stretch keeps slipping away – and against Phantom Esports it slipped away from a position they had already won on paper.
Where to read more
If you want more context around the domestic scene, we also covered the Tipsport MČR CS format for 2026 and the win of “Nothing Worked” over Outsiders. For the bigger picture of the competitive calendar, there is also our piece on the Shanghai Major.
FAQ
Fourteen teams with the highest VRS standing were picked straight from the applications. Every other team had to go through one of the two online qualifiers, played in a Single Elimination bracket.
To the quarterfinals. They won their first two matches comfortably, beat Teletubisie 13:11, and then lost 11:13 to Phantom Esports on Ancient after leading 10:2 in the first half.
No. Both teams were in the same half of the bracket, but both were eliminated in the quarterfinals, so they never met.
BC.Game with Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, 8:13 on Cache. Before that, BRUTE had eliminated the previous event’s semifinalist X-CITY in overtime.
BC.Game. After failing in the previous five qualifiers, they won this one and booked their place in Stockholm, with s1mple putting up a 1.74 K/D ratio in the final against Sasha Esport.