TheMongolz secure playoffs spot with dominant victory over G2

The European squad were far from their best and failed to make the series competitive.

The MongolZ have blown G2 out of the water on Ancient (13-4) and Anubis (13-7) to secure a spot at the ESL Pro League Season 19 playoffs.

"This was a world-class performance," commentator Henry "⁠HenryG⁠" Greer said after the series, adding emphasis to Mathieu "⁠Maniac⁠" Quiquerez's comments about how it would be unfair to just paint this victory as G2 not showing up.

The truth lay somewhere in the middle as The MongolZ's stellar performance tilted the series heavily to one side, but G2 also failed to make an appearance and were disjointed and off-key from beginning to end.

The PGL Major Copenhagen and IEM Chengdu semi-finalists were outclassed on both maps played, with only a minimal cosmetic comeback on the attacking side of Anubis to show for. By the end of it all, not a single G2 player boasted a rating above 1, while everyone on The MongolZ was over 1.25.

A mention must go out to AWPer Usukhbayar "⁠910⁠" Banzragch, often overlooked in a nation where riflers reign, as he was one of the engines in his team's victory with a 1.51 rating, 37-16 KD, and 89.2 ADR in the series.

The moment of the match for G2 was, perhaps, a stellar play from Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov, who came in hot from being the only player performing on his team on Ancient and his quad-kill on the A site with a scout could have turned things around early on in their map pick.

In the end it turned out to be a mirage and even he fizzled out as the rounds racked up against his team and frustration mounted. The initial hope and excitement quickly turned into frustration and long faces were seen throughout the G2 camp.

The Mongolian squad showed great composure in a match that was not particularly high stakes — there are now a lower bracket and a last chance bracket before G2 crash out — and in the comfort of the studio in Malta. The MongolZ now have another similar match, the Group B upper bracket final, before the heat gets turned up a notch in the playoffs.