MongolZ roll into Thunderpick World Championship playoffs

The MongolZ cruised to a pair of 2-0 wins on Tuesday and captured first place in Group B at the Thunderpick World Championship in Berlin, sealing a berth in the quarterfinals.

After downing Cloud9, The MongolZ got past Fnatic, which had rallied past 9z Team 2-1 earlier in the day. In the Group B elimination match, Cloud9 ousted 9z Team 2-0.

The last playoff berth from the group will be determined on Friday when Cloud9 face off against Fnatic.

The $850,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament began Monday and runs through Nov. 3.

A series of qualifiers in Europe, North America and South America set the 16-team field for the World Championship. The teams are divided into four groups of four teams. Each group plays a double-elimination tournament (best-of-three format), with the group winner advancing to the quarterfinals and the second- and third-place teams playing a decider match for the group’s other spot in the quarterfinals.

The single-elimination playoffs are best-of-three except for the final, which will be best-of-five. The championship team will take home $500,000, while the runner-up will get $150,000.

The MongolZ began play Tuesday with two tight map wins over Cloud9, 13-11 on Dust II and 13-11 on Ancient. Munkhbold “Senzu” Azbayar logged 40 kills and a plus-10 kill-death differential for the all-Mongolian winning side. Kazakhstan’s Kaisar “ICY” Faiznurov produced 41 kills and a plus-12 K-D differential for Cloud9.

9z Team began with a 13-4 victory over Fnatic on Ancient, but Fnatic responded by taking Inferno 13-8 and Dust II 13-10. Denmark’s Benjamin “blameF” Bremer topped Fnatic with 50 kills and a plus-15 K-D differential. Spain’s Antonio “MartinezSa” Martinez registered 46 kills and a plus-13 K-D differential for 9z Team.

The MongolZ defeated Fnatic 13-11 on Mirage and 13-7 on Dust II behind 38 kills and a plus-11 K-D differential from Garidmagnai “bLitz” Byambasuren. Sweden’s Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson amassed 30 kills and an even K-D differential for Fnatic.

Cloud9 stayed alive by beating 9z Team 13-10 on Mirage, 13-7 on Ancient. Israel’s Nikita “HeavyGod” Martynenko posted 44 kills and a plus-22 K-D differential for Cloud9. Uruguay’s Franco “dgt” Garcia amassed 31 kills and a plus-4 K-D differential for 9z Team.

Thunderpick World Championship upcoming group play schedule

Group C — Wednesday

HEROIC vs. Legacy

Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. Imperial Esports

Group D — Thursday

Aurora Gaming vs. BIG

M80 vs. BESTIA

Thunderpick World Championship prize pool

1. $500,000

2. $150,000

3. $70,000

4. $50,000

5-8. $20,000

9-12. no money

13-16. no money — Team Falcons, 9z Team, two other teams TBD

–Field Level Media