Techno on winning EWC: "It's just the beginning"

The Mongolian player believes there's still a big margin of improvement for his team.

The MongolZ ended their long wait for a Big-Event trophy on Sunday as they swept Aurora 3-0 in the grand final of the Esports World Cup.

Sodbayar "⁠Techno⁠" Munkhbold capped off a fantastic tournament with a 1.33 rating in the final, second only to Azbayar "⁠Senzu⁠" Munkhbold's 1.40 series rating. He is thriving in his new role as a trader and clutcher, with his 1.39 tournament rating in Riyadh putting him at the top of the charts among players with more than one match played.

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Techno earns career-first MVP at EWC 2025

Techno, who joins teammate Usukhbayar "⁠910⁠" Banzragch on the list of Mongolian MVP medal holders, admitted after the match that the victory is a massive boost for the team.

"Of course it feels great, getting the first real tier-one S-tier trophy now, with the best teams," he told HLTV. "I'm glad to see that, and it's just the beginning."

The 20-year-old was also thrilled that The MongolZ were once again able to best Vitality, who had been their nemesis during the first half of the season.

"I think it's great confidence for us that we can beat our greatest enemy, Vitality," he said. "We beat them two times, so it proves to us that we're improving, but still, we need to do more.

"Today's game we had so many difficult and strugglesome rounds, but we managed to win it."

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How does it feel to win the HLTV MVP?

To be honest, I think I'm really happy to see that for doing my own job, to make the HLTV MVP, but I couldn't be here without my teammates. All my teammates, including my coach, I'm really proud of my team, and this (MVP) is for my time.

How does it feel to win the trophy at the Esports World Cup?

Of course it feels great, getting the first real tier-one S-tier trophy now, with the best teams. I'm glad to see that, and it's just the beginning.

From the first half of the year compared to now, it seems there was a change in the way you're playing in your team. In the first half of the year it seemed like on T side you would go in first a lot, whereas now it feels like mzinho is going in first more often. Is that something you worked on in the break?

No, there's nothing special, I think it's just that we're playing the same playstyle with a better performance. About mzinho and me, we have the same position, lurker and anchor, and sometimes he needs to go forward and sometimes I need to, but I do it often.

How is it going to affect your confidence as a team, now that you've finally won that big tier-one trophy?

I think it's great confidence for us that we can beat our greatest enemy, Vitality. We beat them two times, so it proves to us that we're improving, but still, we need to do more. Today's game we had so many difficult and strugglesome rounds, but we managed to win it.

We saw on social media there are watch parties in Mongolia, thousands of fans watching your games. How does it feel to have that support from your home country?

Obviously it's a great feeling for us, there's a whole country and region cheering for you. Also your family and relatives, all the people in Mongolia, it's unbelievable to see that.