The MongolZ flummox FaZe; book IEM Melbourne playoffs
After their opening round wins against Complexity and paIN, The MongolZ and FaZe met in the upper semi-finals of group B at IEM Melbourne 2025. Both these teams now stood just a couple of map wins away from booking a playoffs spot.
The series started on Dust2 where Senzu and mzinho's early impact propelled The MongolZ off to a 4-1 start on the CT-side but FaZe were quick to recover and show their class, stringing up five rounds in a row off of frozen and rain's T-side brilliance. FaZe ended up taking the half 7-5.
FaZe started their CT-side with a pistol round win but The MongolZ stole the anti-eco. Explosive T-side performances from the trio of mzinho, bLitz and 910, outclassed FaZe, stealing the map away from them. The MongolZ put up eight consecutive T-side rounds after conceding the pistol to close Dust2 13-8 and take a 1-0 lead in the series.
The second map took us to Ancient where The MongolZ started with a pistol round win the T-side but fumbled the anti-eco as FaZe built up a 4-1 lead early in the half. The MongolZ recovered and split the half 6-6. mzinho and Techno came alive in the CT-side, fetching The MongolZ a 11-8 lead but FaZe yet again completed their ascent, pushing the game into overtime.
The MongolZ put up a flawless CT-side in overtime, courtesy of mzinho's multi-frag rounds. FaZe were able to secure just a single round in overtime as The MongolZ closed Ancient 16-13, taking down FaZe 2-0 to book themselves an IEM Melbourne 2025 playoffs spot. A win in the finals of group B will confirm a semi-final spot for The MongolZ.
This the fourth S-tier playoffs appearance for The MongolZ in 2025 after their playoff runs at IEM Katowice 2025, PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 and ESL Pro League Season 21.
FaZeThe MongolZ| FaZe |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski |
33 - 35 | -2 | 73.8 | 68.0% | 1.02 |
 Håvard 'rain' Nygaard |
33 - 33 | +0 | 77.8 | 66.0% | 0.99 |
 David 'frozen' Čerňanský |
30 - 34 | -4 | 70.2 | 68.0% | 0.94 |
 Finn 'karrigan' Andersen |
33 - 36 | -3 | 71.2 | 62.0% | 0.89 |
 Helvijs 'broky' Saukants |
18 - 33 | -15 | 55.2 | 70.0% | 0.70 |
| The MongolZ |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ayush 'mzinho' Batbold |
46 - 29 | +17 | 89.5 | 82.0% | 1.36 |
| Garidmagnai 'bLitz' Byambasuren |
38 - 29 | +9 | 83.5 | 70.0% | 1.17 |
| Munkhbold 'Senzu' Azbayar |
30 - 32 | -2 | 71.5 | 72.0% | 1.03 |
| Sodbayar 'Techno' Munkhbold |
30 - 31 | -1 | 68.2 | 70.0% | 1.01 |
| Usukhbayar '910' Banzragch |
26 - 26 | +0 | 58.9 | 76.0% | 0.97 |
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