A few days ago, The MongolZ won their 2nd S-Tier CS2 Trophy of 2024 at Thunderpick World Championship 2024. The Asian team’s achievement is clear proof that they are now one of the best in the world.
Despite being ranked just 11th globally, The MongolZ proved this year that they can beat the likes of Eternal Fire, Cloud9, Fnatic, ENCE, Astralis, HEROIC, NiP, and even Team Spirit, who recently finished 2nd at BLAST Premier World Final 2024.
Thunderpick World Championship offered $850,000 in prizes and the winning team was awarded $500,000. So, in terms of their winnings, The MongolZ won a tournament that’s the equivalent of a CS2 Major.
The Path To The Trophy
The MongolZ started the competition in group B, where they managed to win their first two matches against Cloud9 and Fnatic without losing a single map. But they struggled each time.
Against Cloud9, the scores were 13 – 11 on Dust II and 13 – 11 on Ancient. Against Fnatic, they were 13 – 11 on Mirage and 13 – 7 on Dust II. In both of these matches, The Mongolz won thanks to the excellent performance of players like Garidmagnai “bLitz” Byambasuren.
After winning their group with two wins and no losses, The MongolZ had to win three more matches to claim the trophy.
The first one, played against Imperial Esports, was a serious test of skill and determination. The MongolZ won the first map 12 – 16 but lost the second one 13 – 6. On the third map, they were two rounds behind after the first half and needed to excel in the second half, which they did, winning it 1 – 8.
The second playoffs match was much easier. 3DMAX’s tactics were ineffective against the Asians and the battle was over very quickly: 6 – 13 on Anubis, 9 – 13 on Ancient.
The Grand Final offered The MongolZ another opportunity to test their resolve because the opponent was HEROIC. The score was 1 – 1 after the first two maps and the third finished 13 – 11 in favor of the Asian squad. After that, HEROIC seem to have lost their morale because the score on the 4th map was 13 – 2.
