The MongolZ pull off unreal comeback from 0-11 down to sweep Aurora in Malta

The Turkish squad head home with their heads in their hands after a miserable end to their Bounty campaign.

The MongolZ have locked in a spot in the semi-final of BLAST Bounty Season 2 Finals after completing an unbelievable comeback on Mirage to beat Aurora 2-0.

The Turks picked The MongolZ as their opponents in a grudge matchup that has carried on through the year, with this game being the fourth time the teams have faced in the playoffs.

It had been a tit-for-tat rivalry that has seen the teams trade wins, with The MongolZ winning the last battle to head into this series with a 2-1 head-to-head record.

That has been extended to 3-1 after an incredible comeback effort from The MongolZ, which saw them barely clinch victory on Aurora's Dust2 pick (13-11) before pulling off an incredible comeback from 0-11 down on Mirage to steal victory in overtime, with a 1v3 by Garidmagnai "⁠bLitz⁠" Byambasuren for The MongolZ's sole T round making all the difference.

The Turks were the ones who nearly came back on Dust2, where a B-heavy game unfolded and neither team found much success on the attack as their stubborn and repetitive split and execute attempts were shut down.

In the end, that proved more costly for Aurora. The Turks started out on solid footing with a pistol victory on the T side for a 3-0 start, and recovered from a triple kill hold by Azbayar "⁠Senzu⁠" Munkhbold from the back of B two rounds later to post their sole successful T round for the rest of the half.

The MongolZ mustered a stalwart defense with Ayush "⁠mzinho⁠" Batbold shining from Catwalk while bLitz and Senzu closed down B, stringing together six straight to head into the break with an 8-4 lead.

A pistol win extended that to 9-4, but a double Scout buy and 1v2 clutch by Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker offered Aurora a window of opportunity that they seized. woxic was a terror while Ali "⁠Wicadia⁠" Haydar Yalçın and Samet "⁠jottAAA⁠" Köklü stopped relentless efforts to attack B by The MongolZ, but just after Aurora took the lead, 11-10, a force-buy from The MongolZ and an overplay by the Turks turned the map on its head and let bLitz's men edge out victory.

Mirage looked like a complete wash with The MongolZ stopped cold on the attack, every effort to gain any ground shut down by a meticulous defense by Aurora.

jottAAA tallied a 1v2 ace clutch to add insult to injury and keep Aurora flawless, helping them up to a 11-0 lead. The MongolZ then tallied their sole offensive round by way of a 1v3 clutch by bLitz, which would make all the difference after the swap as Aurora won just a single offensive round of their own.

That came off the back of a triple entry by Wicadia, but that was the sole beacon of light in a complete collapse by the Turks. Frustration was evident across the players' faces as The MongolZ dug deep and crushed bombsite hits round after round, with their double AWP setup proving lethal and leaving Aurora looking the fool as they were sent packing from Malta.

Aurora collapse on T side Mirage for fourth match in a row

The fashion in which Aurora lost Mirage is no doubt the highlight of the series, but offensive woes on the map is now an extremely worrying pattern for the Turks.

It is the fourth game in a row that Engin "⁠MAJ3R⁠" Küpeli's men have completely collapsed on the T side of Mirage, tallying a single round against FaZe in a 1-13 loss at IEM Cologne, no rounds against MOUZ at the BLAST.tv Austin Major (6-13), and a single round against The MongolZ at IEM Dallas.

"Not so much to say," MAJ3R told Mike "⁠DarfMike⁠" Winnick in a post-match interview when asked about the collapse.

"Since the [last] two tournaments [Editor's note: three tournaments], the T side on Mirage we've won only one round. It's not alright. Big responsibility on me to be honest. They played a great CT side also, but after the CT side we did, having this comeback is complicated. Not so much to say, I'm obviously very sad that we didn't find the solution."

More highlights from The MongolZ vs. Aurora:

• Senzu hits some clean taps to stop the B rush

• mzinho shuts down Aurora with 3k

• 910's Long defense freezes Aurora out of the half

• woxic 1v2 turns crucial force-buy

• bLitz's efforts in CT aren't enough against heroic B defense

• woxic steps up with crucial 3k on B

• Senzu hits three bangers to recover post-plant

• The MongolZ pull off daylight robbery with force-buy

• jottAAA's incredible 1v2 ace clutch keeps Aurora flawless

• bLitz 4k and 1v3 clutch stops Aurora's 11-round streak

• Wicadia spams mzinho, double entries A to set Aurora on map point

• bLitz knifes Wicadia to complete insult to injury 3k

• The MongolZ complete comeback from 0-11 down to force overtime

• bLitz hits ridiculous spray transfer double opener in match-winning round