TheMongolz and OG qualify for IEM Cologne 2023 Group Stage

The IEM Cologne 2023 Play-In Stage is already history; as a result, we already know the last four teams qualified for the tournament’s Group Stage. We will start talking about TheMongolz and OG, who beat FURIA Esports and Apeks to seal their ticket to the next tournament stage.

Undoubtedly, TheMongolz is a big surprise, as we all expected a much more powerful lineup from FURIA. Moreover, this first foray of Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo as FURIA’s IGL ended in the worst possible way, as they lost to Monte Esports and TheMongolz, two Tier 2 teams in the CS:GO competitive scene.

On the other hand, OG put an end to the dream of Apeks, another of the revelation teams of this season, and now, they will have the complicated task of facing Team Vitality in the first match of the Group Stage of the IEM Cologne 2023.

Let’s see what happened in the matches of TheMongolz and OG on the last day of the IEM Cologne 2023 Play-In.

TheMongolz crush FURIA Esports to knock them out of the tournament

The dream of this new FURIA Esports lineup ends at the hands of the Mongolian squad, TheMongolz. Undoubtedly, expectations were very high, especially considering that all five FURIA players are world-class. However, it was more than obvious that FalleN and Marcelo “chelo” Cespedes have not yet achieved the ideal synergy in the team. As a result, TheMongolz crushed them 2-0 and thus sent them back home.

It all started in Inferno, the first map of the series and selection of TheMongolz, where we had a spectacular match, as both teams left everything in each round. In the first half, we had the first surprise, since the Mongolian squad took the victory by 9-6 on their side T. However, the Brazilians woke up at the hand of Andrei “arT” Piovezan and managed to even the score by 15-15. Finally, in a single Overtime, TheMongolz took the victory by 19-15.

Then, in the second map, Overpass, things changed radically, as FURIA seems to have exhausted all its fuel in the second half of Inferno. In the first half, TheMongolz deployed a great defense that prevented the South American approaches, and, as a result, they took a partial victory by 10-5. Then, in the change of sides, FURIA was weak in the first rounds and allowed the Mongolians to take a 15-5 lead. Finally, FURIA falls by 8-16 and are eliminated from the tournament.

.@MongolzCs manage to dominate on the final map to take down @FURIA with a clean 2-0 💪

19-15 Inferno
16-8 Overpass#IEM pic.twitter.com/eVzFK26RyA

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) July 28, 2023

OG apply a clean sweep against Apeks

On the other hand, we have that, little by little; the new OG lineup is getting more rhythm in the game, and, after eliminating Complexity in Round 1 of the Lower Bracket, they got the qualification to the Group Stage after beating with a clean sweep, for the second consecutive game, Apeks.

The series started in Mirage, OG’s map pick, where German Nils “k1to” Gruhne showed an impressive pace of play. In the first half, with OG on his T-side, k1to had a 1.84 Rating and 119.1 ADR, leading his team to an 11-4 partial victory. Then, at the change of sides, OG’s defense started very strong, and they were quickly 15-4 ahead on the scoreboard. Finally, OG took a 1-0 series lead thanks to a 16-6 victory.

On the second map, Inferno, things were very similar as OG started strongly, winning the first half on their CT side with an excellent score of 12-3. At the change of sides, Apeks tried to wake up and started to carve out a possible comeback. However, the seven-round win was not enough, and they fell 10-16.

A strong performance from @OGcsgo across both maps results in a clean 2-0 victory over @apeksgg and a spot in the group stage 👌

16-6 Mirage
16-10 Inferno#IEM pic.twitter.com/2rBMkTJW2V

— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) July 28, 2023

Header: ESL