(Photo credit: Nick Oza/The Republic via Imagn Content Services, LLC)

HEROIC pulled off a 2-0 sweep of Fnatic on Saturday, joining three other teams that also advanced to the semifinals at the Thunderpick World Championship in Berlin.

By 2-1 scores, 3DMAX downed BESTIA, The MongolZ defeated Imperial Esports and OG topped BIG.

The $850,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament began Monday and runs through Nov. 3.

A series of qualifiers in Europe, North America and South America set the 16-team field for the World Championship. The teams are divided into four groups of four teams. Each group plays a double-elimination tournament (best-of-three format), with the group winner advancing to the quarterfinals and the second- and third-place teams playing a decider match for the group's other spot in the quarterfinals.

The single-elimination playoffs are best-of-three except for the final, which will be best-of-five. The championship team will take home $500,000, while the runner-up will get $150,000.

On Saturday, HEROIC won 13-10 on both Nuke and Vertigo to make quick work of Fnatic. Leading the way was Rene "TeSeS" Madsen, who logged 46 kills and a plus-19 kill-death differential for HEROIC. Matus "MATYS" Simko of Slovakia finished with 37 kills and a plus-2 K-D differential for Fnatic.

The MongolZ sandwiched a 16-12 win on Dust II and a 13-8 victory on Inferno around a 13-6 loss on Mirage to defeat Imperial Esports. Munkhbold "Senzu" Azbayar paced the all-Mongolian squad with 71 kills and a plus-28 K-D differential. Imperial's top player was Brazil's Lucas "decenty" Bacelar (54 kills, plus-6 K-D differential).

OG dropped the opener to BIG 13-9 on Dust, but bounced back with consecutive wins (13-11 on Anubis, 13-1 on Ancient) to close out the match. Madalin-Andrei "MoDo" Mirea of Romania led the way for OG, collecting 59 kills and a plus-32 K-D differential. Germany's Karim "Krimbo" Moussa had 41 kills for BIG, which had no players finish with a positive K-D differential.

The playoffs continue Nov. 2 with the two semifinal matches:

--3D Max vs. The MongolZ

--HEROIC vs. OG

The third-place match and grand final is set for Nov. 3.

Thunderpick World Championship prize pool

1. $500,000

2. $150,000

3. $70,000

4. $50,000

5-8. $20,000 -- TBD, Imperial Esports, Fnatic, BIG

9-12. no money -- Virtus.pro, Cloud9, Ninjas in Pyjamas, M80

13-16. no money -- Team Falcons, 9z Team, Legacy, Aurora Gaming