The MongolZ make Dallas semi-final over Aurora

The Mongolian side was able to right their wrongs from Astana.

The MongolZ have defeated Aurora in the quarter-final of IEM Dallas with a 2-0 scoreline (Dust2 13-11, Mirage 13-6) to grab revenge for their earlier defeat at PGL Astana.

The Mongolian side will now face MOUZ in the semi-final on Saturday, where they will aim to make their first final of 2025.

Date	Matches
IEM Dallas 2025
24/05/2025	MOUZ 20:15 The MongolZ	Match

The series began on Dust2, and The MongolZ needed to count on a 5-0 conversion from both pistols to stay in the game early on. Despite that, Aurora got up to a 10-7 lead before Ayush "⁠mzinho⁠" Batbold came to the rescue with an MP9 1vs3 and turned the tide of the game, with The MongolZ eventually taking the map 13-11.

The Mongolian side didn't need to wait as long for a clutch on Mirage, as Garidmagnai "⁠bLitz⁠" Byambasuren pulled off a 1vs2 in the pistol to get his team off to a good start. It was hard to envisage the amount of dominance The MongolZ put up on their CT side, however, as they ran away to a 10-0 lead after Azbayar "⁠Senzu⁠" Munkhbold's 1vs2.

While Aurora were at least able to avoid a 13-0, their tournament soon ended after a lackluster 6-13 loss on their opponent's pick.

Senzu conquers stage fright

Janko "⁠YNk⁠" Paunović pointed out the AWP battle between Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker and Usukhbayar "⁠910⁠" Banzragch as a deciding factor in the match, and while the Mongolian AWPer certainly got the better of the matchup, it was The MongolZ's secondary sniper who dominated.

Much has been said about his performances in stage matches, but Senzu was absolutely electric against Aurora and was by far the most impactful player on the server with a 1.50 rating, 0.36 ahead of his closest teammate.

MAJ3R's masterplan doesn't work out the second time

After Aurora's win over The MongolZ at PGL Astana, Engin "⁠MAJ3R⁠" Küpeli told HLTV that he and his team went for a change of strategy and started on the Mirage offense.

Read more

MAJ3R: "We always pick CT, but this time I decided to take fate in my hands and start T"

The Turkish squad did the same in Dallas, but could only muster one round on the T-side that ended with bLitz knifing woxic in the final round of the half.

"We lost so many stupid clutches. Like the pistol round on Mirage, we could have started Mirage really well," the Turkish captain said in a post-match interview.

"Winning this pistol could have changed a lot. We just threw rounds. Today we didn't deserve to play another playoff match, we didn't play great Counter-Strike, and it is what it is. Everybody knows it's not the real face of Aurora."