The MongolZ opened their IEM Beijing campaign with a 2-1 victory over Legacy, recovering from an overtime loss on Mirage to win the series.
Speaking to HLTV after the match, Sodbayar "Techno" Munkhbold discussed the team's progress with their new lineup, how Yesuntumur "nin9" Gantulga's experience as an in-game leader has helped the team, and their preparation plans for the Singapore Major.
First off, congratulations on the win. In Bucharest you won your Mirage pick 13-8, but today Legacy took the map. Apart from the roster change, did you notice anything they changed on this map to counter you today?
On Mirage actually, we were not ourselves and we lost so many rounds on the T side, really struggling on the T side at that time. I think it's because maybe we had a really busy schedule the recent days and couldn't play with the team together. And, I don't know, it was kind of... the game feels weird after a long time, you know?
You won the 1win Private Club, your first event with the new lineup, but then you had a tougher time in Bucharest. Do you think you can get to where you want to be before the Singapore Major?
Yeah, I hope so. Because since the last Major, our VRS rank has been so low. And I'm glad we have finally made it at least to the top 20. And we will do more now.
You played with nin9 on IHC about four years ago, and now that you are teammates again, what's changed about him, as a player or as a person?
I think he became an IGL on The Huns. And maybe his recent teams, I think it's on The Huns and he became IGL and it almost feels like we are playing with two IGLs, you know? But bLitz is the main IGL, obviously; he does the most things, and sometimes, especially on B sites, like when we are playing together, he's kind of the voice on the one side.
Since you're not going to play at BLAST Rivals in Hong Kong, you'll have more time to prepare for the Singapore Major. How will you use that time? Are you planning to go straight to Singapore for a bootcamp?
I'm not sure about that, where we will practice, because there are many European teams, all the teams are going to come to Asia. So I'm not sure. Maybe we will stay in Mongolia, or maybe we will go to Hong Kong or Vietnam... Like, a country [like this] to bootcamp. But we certainly really need to practice.
Yesuntumur 'nin9' GantulgaPast 3 months
The MongolZ
Yesuntumur 'nin9' Gantulga
Garidmagnai 'bLitz' Byambasuren
Sodbayar 'Techno' Munkhbold
Usukhbayar '910' Banzragch
Anarbileg 'cobrazera' Uuganbayar
Erdenedalai 'maaRaa' Bayanbat
Sodbayar 'Techno' MunkhboldPast 3 months
Legacy
Andrei 'arT' Piovezan
Eduardo 'dumau' Wolkmer
Bruno 'latto' Rebelatto
Santino 'try' Rigal
Italo 'ksloks' Meinberg
Alan 'adrrr' Riveros