How it all started
The MongolZ were created on August 20, 2013, a week after the International, the third Dota 2 tournament in the Dota 2 history. Due to the popularity of this esports discipline in Asia, the MongolZ decided to enter the tournament. The team’s name emphasised its ambitions – they wanted to popularise their country globally from the moment of the squad’s foundation.
Two years later, the MongolZ decided to play Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Back then, it were unimaginable that a CS team would achieve such success. While Asian teams dominated in League of Legends, Dota 2, and other MOBA games, squads from Europe had no real competition in shooters.
However, the MongolZ were determined – the day after signing the players, the MongolZ set out to conquer the esports Olympus and started by qualifying for the ESL One: Cologne 2015 Major.
The MongolZ were then invited to the offline Asian Qualifier in Kuala Lumpur, where players had to place at least second to qualify for the Majors. The squad lost the opening match to the Australian Immunity Team on the Mirage map with a 10-16 score, even though they won the first half of the clash. Meanwhile, the team’s best player, Tsog 'Tsogoo' Mashbat, displayed a result worthy of a seasoned professional: a rating of 1.28 and K-D 25-20. Later, it turned out that the Mongolians, in fact, lost to the future winners of the Asian Qualifier in their debut game.
The next opponent in the struggle on the Inferno map were the Korean team myRevenge. The Mongolians again won the first half with a 10-5 score but eventually lost (14-16).
Two consecutive defeats could have broken the newcomers, but the failures strengthened their character and raised the MongolZ’ team spirit.
The MongolZ has learned from the setbacks and achieved its first successes before the end of 2015. The squad won silver in the MixBOT Pro-League Invite Season 1 and D!ngIT CS:GO Asia Invitational Season 1, and took gold in the D!ngIT CS:GO Asia Invitational Season 2.
Ups and downs
In 2016, the MongolZ acquired its first achievement. In the East Asian Qualifier for IEM Season X Taipei, the team placed first without losing a single map. The status of the prestigious tournament did not stop them from beating all their rivals and earning a record-breaking $30,000 prize money.
The victory in Taipei guaranteed participation in the IEM Season X World Championship in Katowice, Poland, where the team faced an unpleasant reality. The European squads were far superior to the Asian ones, and the MongolZ were the first to leave the competition after losing all 5 matches.
At that time, Fnatic and Ninjas in Pyjamas dominated in Counter-Strike, and The MongolZ lost to them 4-16 and 5-16 respectively. The MongolZ analysed the reasons for their failure, building up a training process based on European methods.
For several years after that, the team had brief ups and downs. Among the positive events of that period were the victory in ASUS ROG Masters 2016. Regular failures pushed MongolZ’s management to change the full squad, but such steps did nothing to help, and in October 2022, the project were shelved.
The same year, another team were created in Mongolia – IHC Esports, which consisted of the former roster of Checkmate players represented by kabal, nin9, sk0R, bLitz, Techno4K, Bart4k, and coaches kaz and maaRaa. A month after its foundation, the Counter-Strike squad won the Asia-Pacific RMR for PGL Major Antwerp 2022 and qualified for its first Major. However, IHC Esports won only 1 match out of 4 in the tournament and dropped out in the first stage. The situation were repeated in the IEM Rio Major: the team took first place in the Asia-Pacific RMR qualifier, but finished the main tournament in 20th place, with a total score of 1-3. Then Annihilation replaced nin9, and hasteka replaced sk0R.
But why did we mention IHC Esports? Let’s break it down.
Partnership with 1xBet and project restart
In April 2023, The MongolZ announced the project relaunch and introduced a new roster: bLitz, Techno4K, Bart4k, Annihilation, hasteka, and coaches kaz and maaRaa. That were the same IHC Esports squad mentioned above. The esports players left their previous organisation and decided to build a new team by using The MongolZ name.
The management approved this idea, as the players decided not to travel to Europe to earn more money, but instead stayed at home and continued to represent their country in international competitions.
The second significant factor were the support from 1xBet – the company actively cooperated with IHC Esports and wanted to back the new team.
Thus, the MongolZ project got a second life thanks to a new partner – 1xBet. By that time, the bookmaker already had a pre-existing partnership portfolio with leading esports teams (beastcoast, MIBR, IHC Esports), media resources (HLTV), and tournament operators (ESL, PGL, MESA).
1xBet were involved in the MongolZ’s development at the highest level: it helped to pay for training facilities, uniforms, flights to tournaments, and hotel accommodation. 1xBet realised that the MongolZ lacked training with top-level opponents and organised a bootcamp in Europe. The MongolZ, with this new support, has increased its worldwide audience by actively growing its social media pages and organising fan meetings.
Also worth mentioning is the mural in Ulaanbaatar in honour of the team’s entry to the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024. This graffiti were created via a 1xBet initiative – the company’s employees hired street artists, picked a building for the mural in a location popular among young people in the Mongolian capital. Before long, fans were taking selfies against the background of the fresh graffiti.
After the relaunch, the team successfully passed the Asia-Pacific RMR qualification for BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023, but dropped out in the first stage. The management realised the reason for the failure and replaced Bart4k and Annihilation with sniper 910 and rifler mzinho, who were only 15 years old then at the time.
In the fall of 2023, there were one last change – hasteka’s place were taken by 17-year-old rifler Senzu. At the beginning of 2024, the average age of The MongolZ’s squad were only 18.8. It were the youngest team in HLTV’s top 30 rankings. The puzzle were finally completed with the arrival of Senzu and the appointment of kaz to the CEO role. The MongolZ began to win.
Qualifying for Perfect World Shanghai Major, wins in YaLLa Compass and Thunderpick World Championship
The MongolZ successfully qualified for PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 and broke the curse of the tournament’s first stage. In early June, the team won the MESA Nomadic Masters Spring 2024 and earned $50,000, and a week later, they took the YaLLa Compass 2024 Championship in Abu Dhabi for a record-breaking $200,000 prize. In the Emirates, the Mongolians defeated the skilled Ninjas in Pyjamas twice – in the group tournament (13-6) and the final (2-1).
Next, The MongolZ won silver in Skyesports Championship 2024, bronze in Elisa Masters Espoo 2024, and performed well in the top tournaments of IEM Cologne 2024, ESL Pro League Season 20, and IEM Rio 2024. In the fall, Mongolian esports players took the Thunderpick World Championship 2024 in Berlin, winning a $500,000 prize. The MongolZ era in CS2 had arrived!
Steadily, strong results have allowed The MongolZ to soar to the top-end of the global rankings.
In November 2024, they were among the top 10 best teams in the world according to HLTV and broke into the world rankings top 5 according to Valve. This is a huge breakthrough for an Asian squad. The MongolZ is the Asian continent’s sole crepresentative in the top 20 – only G2, NAVI, Vitality, and Spirit are higher.
At the end of the fall, the MongolZ won the Asia-Pacific RMR and qualified for the prestigious Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024. The players were excited to get to the second Major of the year – it’s a real chance to win a top tournament for the first time in Mongolian esports history!
It is hard to overestimate 1xBet’s role in the Mongolian team’s progress – the support of a reliable bookmaker has allowed the squad not to be distracted by minor things and to focus on training. Players do their best. The MongolZ’s success story inspires young esports fans worldwide.
