Illustration by: NovaH Source: Michal Konkol / Stephanie Lindgren / Adela Sznajder - BLAST.tv

Many of you probably expected The MongolZ to get here, as they’ve been a playoff contender and an ever-improving team since the last major.

Many of you also probably expected FaZe to get here, though probably through some dark ritual karrigan did to revive s1mple and general FaZe bullshit. We don’t judge human transmutation.

Regardless of how they got here, FaZe vs The MongolZ is a match we’ve already seen play out this Major, with FaZe actually qualifying to the playoffs off their 2-0 win over the Mongolian team in Stage 3. So why should you care about this rematch at all, if FaZe already proved they can handily beat The MongolZ?

First: There are two recently recorded BO3 matches between these teams, one the aforementioned 2-0 FaZe victory and the other a 2-0 victory for The MongolZ. This match may be closer than the recent one leads on. Not only that, but this is a major quarterfinal: You’re not going to leave anything on the table.

Second: We’re on the stage at the Major. How many times have you seen FaZe get onto a stage and become a different, better, confident team that you thought they had no chance of being? In fact, we saw it at the last two majors in Shanghai and Copenhagen. * insert karrigan clapping here *

Additionally, they’ve brought s1mple in for the Major, and we’re not talking about Falcons-stand-in s1mple. NAVI s1mple is back in the seat, and that's a scary proposition.

Third: At one point, The MongolZ will figure out how to play on a stage. It’s not that they can’t, but they are a very young team with comparatively not much experience going up against the most experienced team at the Major. Senzu is definitely the player to watch on stage, maybe Friday will be the day he’s able to transfer incredible group stage performances into showing up when it matters most.

With all of that said, you may think that FaZe should probably beat The MongolZ without much fanfare, and that’s exactly what we said in the podcast, even going so far as to say that FaZe will win the Major (off that same dark magic that was performed earlier).

But.

Somewhere, deep in my own heart of hearts and against the thoughts of all of my colleagues, I personally cannot overlook the plucky team from Mongolia, who has grown so much in the last two years.

I believe this team will go further than any Asia-Pacific region team has ever gone, beating the prior record set by the semi-final reaching Renegades at the StarLadder Berlin major.

All this to say, I’ve now caster-cursed an entire country, sorry Mongolia.