MongolZ has qualified for the playoffs of the ESL Pro League Season 23, beating 3DMAX with a 2-1 scoreline. Following a slow start to the year, MongolZ will be in another playoff of a premier CS2 event, and it goes without saying that they are rising once again.
VETO
- 3DMAX removed Mirage
- The MongolZ removed Anubis
- 3DMAX picked Dust2
- The MongolZ picked Ancient
- 3DMAX removed Nuke
- The MongolZ removed Overpass
- Inferno was left over
Map 1: Dust2; Pick: 3DMAX; Winner: MongolZ
A 4-0 start for the MongolZ on their opponents’ map pick gave them a solid lead on the defence, before the French side pulled 3 back to make the map competitive. As 3DMAX fought hard to make the half close, MongolZ maintained their lead for most of the half, but they lost the final two rounds and ended the half with a levelled scoreline. 3DMAX took the lead in the second half by winning the pistol before MongolZ pulled the lead back with a streak of their own to hit double digits. 3DMAX winning two rounds in a row almost levelled the scoreline before a TEKNO4K clutch put MongolZ on map point. Without letting the map slip further, MongolZ finished the map with a fast A hit as map 1 went in favour of the Asian side with a 13:10 scoreline.
Map 2: Ancient; Pick: MongolZ; Winner: 3DMAX
2-0 start from MongolZ, sends them on the winning path after a confident win on the first map. 3DMAX’s hard eco paid off as the full buy round put them on the board, which saw them go 5-2 up before losing another round. MongolZ managed to win two more rounds before switching sides, resulting in an 8-4 lead for 3DMAX. Winning the pistol round and beating the forcebuy, MongolZ had their economy down the drain as the French side, with little to no efforts ran all over them to close out a dominant performance with a 13-4 scoreline. Lucky with 18 kills and 1.71 IR, dropped his best performance of the event to take his side to the final map.
Map 3: Inferno; Pick: Decider; Winner: MongolZ
MongolZ got going with a streak of 3 rounds before trading evenly to start the map. 3DMAX hit the board in the middle of the half and recovered well before MongolZ closed the first half with a 7-5 lead on the less-favored side of Inferno. Following a tight first half, the second half saw MongolZ extend their lead with 3DMAX chasing. Back and forth between the two sides saw MongolZ edge out a hard-fought win over 3DMAX to book their spot in the next round of play. Then the new addition, Cobrazera, topped the charts and came up big in several rounds that saw MongolZ edge out a close win over 3DMAX.
3DMAX will now sit with a 2-2 record, meaning their next match will decide their fate in this event. A win would see them through, and a loss would send them home, but given they have a new man, it is normal for teams to take time to adapt. Unfortunately, they don’t have much time for this event.
