MOUZ survived some tilting rounds to overcome The MongolZ and take their second win at PGL Masters.
Up 8-6 on Nuke, MOUZ lost an anti-force, a 5v3 after Ádám "torzsi" Torzsás's game crashed, and a 3v1 to Yesuntumur "nin9" Gantulga. That was also during a run where Anarbileg "cobrazera" Uuganbayar got a kill eight rounds in a row.
But the favorites' mentality did not waver, and Oldřich "PR" Nový's Ramp hold at 9-10 was the turning point as MOUZ recovered to win 13-10.
Mirage was also close in scoreline, but MOUZ avoided the types of round losses that affected Nuke and were dominant in the gun rounds.
PR carried over his CT form, starting map two with a 14-1 K-D as the B anchor on Mirage. He ended the series with 30 frags on CT side, a 1.74 rating over both maps.
That was in stark contrast to his counterpart support player Sodbayar "Techno" Munkhbold, who has now had eleven straight Mirage maps under a 1.01 rating. The absences of Garidmagnai "bLitz" Byambasuren and Usukhbayar "910" Banzragch were even more damning for The MongolZ's chances.
The MongolZ would have climbed to 12th on the VRS had they beaten MOUZ, strengthening their case for some invites at the start of next year, but their status in Stage 2 of PGL Major Singapore is already fairly safe.
Instead, their focus will be on picking up two more wins and making their first notable event playoffs since Bounty Season 2 in July to cement the clear improvement shown by their new lineup.
MOUZ, meanwhile, are one game away from playoffs and are already putting their day-one defeat to Liquid in the rearview mirror.
Yesuntumur 'nin9' GantulgaPast 3 months
Usukhbayar '910' BanzragchPast 3 months
Garidmagnai 'bLitz' ByambasurenPast 3 months
MOUZ
Ádám 'torzsi' Torzsás
Lotan 'Spinx' Giladi
Dorian 'xertioN' Berman
Oldřich 'PR' Nový
Adrian 'xelex' Vincze
Dennis 'sycrone' Nielsen
Sodbayar 'Techno' MunkhboldPast 3 months
Liquid
Keith 'NAF' Markovic
Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski
Mario 'malbsMd' Samayoa
Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou
Georgi 'Jorko' Mitev
Viktor 'flashie' Tamás Bea
Oldřich 'PR' NovýPast 3 months
Ádám 'torzsi' TorzsásPast 3 months
Anarbileg 'cobrazera' UuganbayarPast 3 months
The MongolZ
Yesuntumur 'nin9' Gantulga
Garidmagnai 'bLitz' Byambasuren
Sodbayar 'Techno' Munkhbold
Usukhbayar '910' Banzragch
Anarbileg 'cobrazera' Uuganbayar
Erdenedalai 'maaRaa' Bayanbat