The Esports Worls Cup semi-final featured a rematch of the BLAST Bounty match where TheMongolZ slayed their demon.
Team Vitality took on TheMongolZ in the first semi-final of the Esports World Cup. Vitality, 7-time champion this year, was playing to secure themselves 2nd place in the club share of the event, which amounts to $4,000,000 for the organization.
The Mongolian team has had a breakout in 2025, maintaining a #4 sport in the VRS and HLTV ranking. Vitality has gotten the better of theMongolZ 6 out of 7 times this year, including at the final of the BLAST Austin Major. However, the last matchup between these two at the BLAST Bounty had the Mongolians prevailing in 2-0 fashion.
TheMongolZ take a lead but falter
TheMongolZ’s map pick of Mirage was a “must-win” according to Jacob “Pimp” Winneche on the analyst desk, and that they did. However, it was only clinched after a back-and-forth economic war waged in the closing stages.
The map kicked off in lop-sided fashion, as TheMongolZ had their way with Vitality. The French-based team could not figure out the opponents’ offense, and found themselves at a 1-7 deficit.
A strong B-hold allowed Vitality to win 4 rounds in a row to earn a score within two of TheMongolZ.
Force buy wars determine the outcome
The second half kicked off with a MongolZ pistol win, but chaos ensued. No team could win consecutive rounds as force buys kept winning.
Round 16 was a highlight with Senzu finding a crisp Desert Eagle double kill in a 3v3 situation. The next round had Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut getting a triple kill with the AWP to win a 2v2 situation.
TheMongolZ ended up coming out the better from the battle. Vitality attempted a last-ditch force buy at 11-8, which went awry.
Garidmagnai ‘bLitz’ Byambasuren was untameable for Vitality, keeping up his form this event and going 5-1 in opening kills/deaths.
The Mongolian challengers went into Vitality’s pick of Dust2 with a necessary lead, as the last time they played they lost 4-13.
Vitality took dust2 but force buys made it chaotic
The tone was set early on Mirage as Robin ‘ropz’ Kool picked up an ace in the opening pistol. He was a nuisance across the map, and Vitality got up to an 8-1 lead.
Much like Mirage, there was an unfruitful comeback, but provided for some bombastic CS in the middle.
After winning the pistol, Ayush ‘mzinho’ Batbold helped TheMongolZ fend off an eco round. Next, Shahar ‘flameZ’ Shushan bagged a 1v2 to keep Vitality leading.
The Mongolians fall off the horse
In Round 18, it looked like the Mongolians had cracked Vitality on Dust2 with a fast A-hit that yielded a flawless round to tie up 9-9.
However, in the very next round, a lone MAG-7 shotgun from Dan ‘apEX’ Madeclaire with a Deagle from ZywOo stunted theMongolZ in their 4v2 rush towards A. The French captain got a triple kill sealing the force buy round and the map.
Pimp called TheMongolZ “piss-poor” when it came to this particular round on the desk, and it allowed Vitality a chance to take the series on Nuke.
A blistering pistol round opens Nuke
The first round of Nuke had a brilliant 2k from Senzu, followed by a near 1v3 by mezii.
TheMongolZ nukes Vitality
The Mongolians went on a 9-0 streak before losing a round. Techno4k and Senzu got 28 kills between them just in these first 9 rounds.
Still, Vitality managed 2 rounds in their opening half despite the onslaught.
Techno continued his tear in the second half, giving TheMongolZ chances to take the map.
However, Vitality clawed back rounds to make the affair close.
Nevertheless, TheMongolZ took the map with a Techno4k carry with 27 kills.
Match Statistics
Team Vitality vs TheMongolZ – | Esports World Cup Semi-final
8-13 (Mirage) – mezii | 1.49 rating
13-9 (Dust2) – Techno4k | 1.52 rating
7-13 (Nuke) – Techno4k | 2.09 rating
