Humiliation in Suzhou: The MongolZ out first, and to their Mongolian rivals
There are few worse ways to leave a tournament. The MongolZ were the first team eliminated from FISSURE Playground 3, losing 2-0 to 5star eSports in the Group A lower bracket, before the event had even reached its third day.
The detail that makes the defeat sting more: 5star are also a Mongolian team. This isn't just any elimination — it's falling to your domestic rivals on the international stage.
A tournament of barely two matches
The MongolZ's stay in Suzhou lasted exactly as long as it needed to. In their opener they faced MIBR and lost 2-1 in a series that nearly went their way: they took Ancient 13-5 comfortably, dropped Mirage 13-10, and on the deciding Inferno reached 12-12 before the Brazilians strung together four consecutive rounds to close out 16-12 in overtime.
From there to the lower bracket, where 5star gave them nothing. Two maps and home.
The change that didn't work
The elimination comes barely two days after the club announced a significant move: the return of Anarbileg "cobrazera" Uuganbayar to the starting five, taking the place of Sodbayar "Techno" Munkhbold — who was, no less, MVP of last year's Esports World Cup.
cobrazera's return had already divided the community when announced. The 21-year-old arrived in December 2025 from The Huns, where he averaged a 1.13 rating against mostly regional opposition, with the impossible task of replacing Senzu. He couldn't translate that level to the big stages and was benched in July with a 1.02.
His return to the starting five lasted exactly two series.
The fall of a generation
Some perspective is warranted on what's happening, because the decline is stark. Barely over a year ago, The MongolZ won the Esports World Cup and were Asia's best team by a considerable margin, with a core that had turned Mongolia into a genuine Counter-Strike power.
Since then: mzinho's departure to BC.Game, cobrazera's benching in July, the bet on teenagers tikuak and DarkMeister, the slide to 14th in the rankings, the EWC playoff elimination to Falcons while defending their title, coach maaRaa's absence in Paris after being unable to travel, and now this.
The current lineup leaves bLitz as in-game leader and 910 on the AWP as the only veterans of that project, surrounded by very young players. It's a legitimate and perhaps necessary rebuild, but it's proving expensive.
What's at stake now
The problem isn't purely competitive. The MongolZ needed VRS points from this tournament, and finishing between 13th and 16th earns them barely $15,000 and virtually nothing in the standings.
With November's Singapore Major on the horizon and the calendar tightening, every wasted event counts double. And this was a wasted event in the worst possible format: a tournament without any of the world's top five teams, where the path was clearer than ever.
If anything can console Mongolian fans, it's that the team that eliminated them is also from home. 5star remain alive in the tournament, and for now they're the only side from the country still standing in Suzhou.
Source: HLTV, Field Level Media, Timesaver, Hotspawn.