Day 2 of the IEM Rio 2023 tournament is about to kick off today with the Mongolz CS:GO team going head-to-head with Heroic in their second elimination game. They might be considered one of the underdogs of the IEM Rio but that doesn’t guarantee that you should place your bets against them.

Mongolz have burst onto the international scene in recent weeks after competing in Asia for many years.

Source: Mongolz CS on Twitter

Yesterday, Mongolz put up quite a fight against IEM Rio favorites NaVi. Fans might have been concerned that Mongolz drew a short straw for their first series in the tournament but sometimes, a lower bracket run is what a team needs to pull out a truly stunning performance.

Despite NaVi seemingly rising from the dead over the last few weeks, Mongolz were still able to take 9 rounds off them on Mirage. While many may have been expecting a stomp, the game was rather more competitive than that.

The first best of 3 also went down for Mongolz last night, where they knocked out Imperial Esports. After a very rough start on Overpass that saw Mongolz ending on just 3 rounds, things really kicked into gear. Both Inferno and Mirage were tough battles but they emerged victorious and carried the torch into day 2.

There’s something of a mountain left to climb for Mongolz to make it to the next stage of IEM Rio 2023. Today, they have to go up against Heroic, who were knocked down to the lower bracket yesterday by BIG. This Danish team has been a staple in the world of CS:GO for years now and, in fact, placed 2nd at the last IEM event in Katowice in 2023.

While it certainly feels like a David and Goliath situation, the statistics aren’t entirely in Heroic’s favor. With a higher average kill and lower average death count across the team, there is something of a Mongolz victory here.

The Mongolz CS:GO team, made up of hasteka, Annihilation, Bart4k, bLitz and Techno, are competing in their first ever CS:GO S-tier tournament since 2017 despite being on the scene since 2015. The Mongolian squad has had a number of roster changes but it seems like they’re hitting their stride. The game today against Heroic is a do-or-die game but one thing is certain – this isn’t the last fans will be seeing from Mongolz on the international stage!