Techno: "I think there will be good support for us in the arena"

The Mongolian rifler is excited to appear in front of the Kazakhstani crowd.

The MongolZ became the first team to progress to the PGL Astana playoffs after getting the better of Natus Vincere in a 2-0 win to exact revenge for the earlier loss against Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen's men in Lisbon.

"If we had won that match at the time, against NAVI, we could have qualified for the playoffs," Sodbayar "⁠Techno⁠" Munkhbold tells HLTV.

The result means The MongolZ will appear in the Barys Arena, where the Mongolian rifler expects a sympathetic crowd due to the nation having a similar culture to his homeland.

Techno also spoke about the win against Natus Vincere and The MongolZ's toughest opponents for the PGL Astana trophy in the full interview, which you can read in full below:

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Congrats again on going through to the playoffs. You went 3-0, so would you say it was as comfortable as it seemed outside the server, considering you went 3-0 and lost just one map?

I think the last game against NAVI was quite hard, actually. We faced them two times in three months, and I think we lost one time and won one time. I think they have prepared against us, and we expected that, actually, and tried to play our own game, our own playstyle, I mean. That's all.

You mentioned you played them quite a lot. Last time in Lisbon, you lost against them, so was it nice to get revenge in a way?

Yes, of course. The last time we faced them was a sad loss, because we were winning on Mirage, I think I remember, and it was kind of a sad loss for us. If we had won that match at the time, against NAVI, we could have qualified for the playoffs, but we lost and were eliminated from the tournament. That was a sad loss for us.

Talking about this tournament overall, most of the big names are not here. Falcons, Vitality, and MOUZ are not here. Do you see yourselves as favorites for this?

Yeah, of course. Recently, we've been [among] the favorites in almost all tournaments, I think. We had many more chances before then, you know, but we can't underestimate the other teams, like Spirit, NAVI, and Aurora, they're also good teams.

You mentioned those three teams. Who do you think is your biggest rival for the title?

I guess it's actually Spirit. The last time we faced them, if I remember, was Pro League, and we lost to them too. [We want to] get revenge again.

Today's victory means you will play in the arena. Given it's relatively close to your country, do you expect a lot of support from the crowd?

From my perspective, and I personally don't know much about my history or whatever, Kazakhstan is almost like our country. Something like the language, the food, whatever, it's similar to our country's people. It will be good for us in the arena, and there will be good support for us, I think.

In a way, is this like almost a home event for you? Is it maybe easier to stay here day by day, and for you guys to prepare for games?

Actually, that doesn't affect us too much, I think. We will do our best, do our things, and we will do our best.