Loading…
GUIDES
Simple Radar
© 2026 TLDR Media, All Rights Reserved.
The MongolZ are breaking necks - and records.
It’s not quite all gone ‘breasts up’ (coughs Gmail language filter) for the big teams, but two of NAVI, Spirit, MOUZ and FaZe will be 1-2 by the time you read this.
After the first two rounds of matches are over, four teams stand at the top.
You probably could’ve guessed Vitality was going to be there, and if you listened to Overtime on Inferno, you probably would’ve guessed that HEROIC was going to be there as well.
But did you really guess that MIBR and The MongolZ were going to be there? Even a Brazilian or Mongolian superfan (of which there are few) would probably have put their teams at 1-1, fighting to advance to the next stage.
The MongolZ entered the tournament and took care of business, beating G2 and MOUZ. Neither of those opponents is a slouche. Okay, maybe G2 is if m0NESY’s mouse is off.
It wasn’t like The MongolZ were absolutely dominating people, but they’ve been one of the best teams coming into this tournament, and everyone seems to be hitting shots at the Major. This run is further cementing them as the best team ever from Asia. Even better than Alter Ego.
Across the pond, MIBR has the most fun CS player to watch: insani. Whenever a player is dropping 24 kills in a map against NA’VI and literally clutching to get the W, you’ve got something awesome to watch.
Yes, they did get to beat up on the oddly seeded 3DMAX, but someone had to. And while their next match-up feels impossible as they take on Vitality, something about this MIBR team feels like they can’t be stopped.
The MongolZ play against HEROIC today, and they have a real legitimate shot at winning it - and would make them the first team from Asia to go 3-0 to get to playoffs.
With day one of the Major Elimination Stage wrapped up and day two already underway, it's time to look at the teams on the brink of a dreadfully long flight home.
Despite several upsets to kick off the second stage, the 0-2 group ended up right where it was expected.
With tough opening matchups against higher-seeded teams, paiN, GamerLegion, Wildcard, and BIG all found themselves trailing after the first round.
While there was some hope that paiN and BIG might pull off upsets against MOUZ and HEROIC, respectively, neither team managed to do so, as Jimpphat’s MAC-10 and NertZ’s 1.69 rating proved too much to handle.
Unfortunately for Wildcard and BIG, Spirit’s and G2’s upset losses in the opening round left them facing the sharks as the second round began. With the 0-2 nearly guaranteed, they needed something magical to happen in order to avoid it. Spoiler: it didn’t, though magixx did manage to pull this one out of the hat.
In the other 0-1 matchups, GamerLegion was simply unlucky to catch a shiny 1.33 rating YEKINDAR, while paiN lost crucial rounds to 3DMax in the later stages of their match, which ultimately cost them the win.
In the end, the team we're most surprised to see in the 0-2 position is paiN.
They showed promise during the RMR and Opening Stage, but the truth is, the initial BO1s are incredibly unforgiving. This raises the question of whether the Major should even feature BO1s in the first place, but we’ll save that debate for another time.
Photo Credits: Perfect World
It’s big, it’s angry, it’s chaotic. New recruit Sam aka AN1MO is angry at FlyQuest for a full 56 seconds, Elliott says blameF is legitimately bad and none of us want to see electroNic on VP any more.
There are some real heavy hitters in the 1-1 bracket, and John Buchholz has delivered us some scarcely believable zingers to devour as a midnight snack.
These games might be finished by the time you read this (they really should be), but we do not have the power of foresight just yet. We asked for it for Christmas, so fingers crossed.
If you were, for some reason, up at 4AM CET, you’d have been treated by the sight of NAVI vs. Spirit. The only problem is there’s only one map. Oh, and that it’s 4AM. That’s also pretty sad.
NAVI are probably the best team in the world, and Spirit have one of the best players in the world but seem to be faltering at this moment in time. Our money is on NAVI, but betting against Russians in a BO1 during the Major is rarely a good idea.
You could also watch FURIA take on Liquid, if you hate yourself/Counter-Strike. Liquid lost to NAVI and beat GamerLegion. Pretty standard stuff. FURIA did open up by smacking Spirit, though, and took Vitality to OT. They might be pretty good.
Just after that, you’ve got the small matter of G2 vs. 3DMAX, which sounds like a great game to watch, until you realise the other stream has MOUZ vs. FaZe. MOUZ vs FaZe! It’s a 1-1 game!
G2 predictably lost to The MongolZ - not predictably because they’re not any good, but because that’s exactly what G2 seem to do every time. They did then crush BIG in an equally predictable fashion.
3DMAX were on opposite sides of 13-11 scorelines, losing to MIBR and beating paiN. This is their first shot at a European team, but it’s a tough one.
The other game might just be the pick of the bunch; it’s a team who are really, really good but might choke versus the team who aren’t that good but seem to make everyone else choke against them.
It’s a coughing baby vs. a small toy it might put in its mouth.
Actually, that doesn’t sound that good at all. Maybe watch G2 lose to 3DMAX instead.
