SAW beat The MongolZ to secure shock Cologne playoff berth

The Mongolian squad drops down to the lower bracket to face the winner of paiN vs. 9z.

SAW have defeated The MongolZ in the Group A upper bracket semi-final with a 2-1 scoreline (Ancient 13-16, Nuke 13-7, Anubis 13-10).

The win means the Portuguese side, who shocked G2 in their opening match on Saturday, secured a quarter-final appearance at a minimum.

This is the first time SAW will appear in a Big Event playoff in their history, and the same goes for the lengthy careers of Ricardo "⁠roman⁠" Oliveira and Christopher "⁠MUTiRiS⁠" Fernandes.

"We are putting in so many hours, it's an incredible feeling. I feel like we deserve it, I have no words. It feels like a dream," said a happy roman in a post-match interview.

"When they started to win some rounds, it was super difficult, and Anubis CT is really hard," added MUTiRiS. "It was a bit shaky, but we won, so it's amazing."

Their group-stage campaign isn't over yet, though, as they will face off against Natus Vincere for a semi-final spot.

Date	Matches
IEM Cologne 2024
13/08/2024	Natus Vincere 16:00 SAW	Match

For The MongolZ, this is a rough loss in what was their best chance to make it to the LANXESS. They now drop down to the lower bracket to face the winner of paiN vs. 9z, but they will need to beat one of Spirit, G2, or Astralis to make it to the playoffs.

Date	Matches
IEM Cologne 2024
12/08/2024	The MongolZ 19:20 paiN	Match

The match began on Ancient, where both teams struggled on the CT side in regulation and needed overtime to get the job done. The MongolZ went from 10-4 up to 10-11 down before Usukhbayar "⁠910⁠" Banzragch's resurgence late into the map proved vital for the Mongolian side. The 22-year-old continued to perform in OT, where a double-AWP setup on CT delivered his team the map.

Clip: 910 comes alive with 4k to stop SAW win streak

Nuke began with Rafael "⁠arrozdoce⁠" Wing's ace in the pistol round, which set the scene for an electric half of Counter-Strike full of clutches, with most of them going in favor of The MongolZ. The first half ended 7-5 in favor of the Portuguese side and they kept up the momentum on the defense, as they lost only two rounds with The MongolZ unable to get control of the economy.

The Anubis decider was another heavily T-sided affair, with The MongolZ almost coming back from 3-10 down. SAW's individuals got them the three rounds required, however, as they eked out a 13-10 win to secure a shock playoff appearance at IEM Cologne.

Clip: ewjerkz sticks the defuse as SAW reach match point