The MongolZ has won the Esports World Cup with a 3-0 victory over the Turkish team Aurora, the team’s biggest tournament win in Counter-Strike 2 to date.
Champions of the (esports) world (cup)
The MongolZ’ run in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia began with a dominant 2-0 performance against GamerLegion. A statement of intent in its very first game at the event, GamerLegion was limited to just 10 rounds in the comfortable win for the Mongolian squad.
Next, the MongolZ were tested in its quarter-final match against 3DMAX, with the French team on a high after eliminating reigning champions NAVI in the opening round. I twas 1-1 after the two teams traded map picks, but the MongolZ showed its quality as it took the deciding map, Nuke, 13-8.
The semi-final saw The MongolZ take the win in the latest chapter of its rivalry with Vitality, gaining a big revenge on the French organisation after losing to them in the BLAST.tv Austin Major. Another 2-1 victory, it’s the latest in a string of disappointing defeats for Vitality after dominating Counter-Strike 2 in the first half of 2025.
Image Credit: PGL
Set to face off against Aurora — its other long term rivals — in the Grand Final, historic results between the two teams suggested the MongolZ would be vast favourites. And that was exactly how the game panned out.
MongolZ got a commanding 3-0 victory thanks to a dominant display from Azbayar “Senzu” Munkhbold and a further 152 frags combined from Sodbayar “Techno” Munkhbold, Garidmagnai “bLitz,” and Ayush “mzinho” Batbold, the Mongolians left their Turkish opponents with little opportunity to fight back as both Samet “jottAAA” Koklu and Engin “MAJ3R” Kupeli flatlined.
With a 16-14 on Mirage, a 13-9 on Dust2, and then 13-4 on Nuke, it was another strong result for the MongolZ, who, after also placing second at the recent BLAST Bounty Season 2, are leaving constant reminders that its still a team that’s growing and improving at the highest level of the esport.
Due to its win, The MongolZ will now take home $500,000, its biggest prize pool takeaway after previously winning $200,000 for winning YaLLa Compass 2024. Techno was also awarded an extra $10,000 for the event after winning the MVP award.
Falcons finish third at EWC
With the EWC Club Championship already decided ahead of the Counter-Strike 2 tournament, going the way of Team Falcons prior to the CS2 third-place decider, the Saudi organisation winning the Semi-Finals match 2-1 had little impact on their own success.
However, Vitality’s failure to win the match and subsequent fourth place finish meant that they remained behind Team Liquid in the Club Championship, meaning that the organisation will miss out on a possible extra $1,000,000 in prize money.