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The ESL Pro League Season 21 playoffs are underway. We are watching the quarter-finals of the prestigious tournament with a total prize pool of $400,000.
The closing match of the first stage of play-offs is the match between NaVi - The MongolZ. The format of the match is Bo3, with the winner going up against the winner of the Liquid/Vitality pairing, and the loser leaving the tournament.
We are trying to find out who of the pair NaVi - MongolZ will be stronger and will pass to the next round, while the loser will lose the chance to call himself the winner of ESL Pro League Season 21.
Let's go.
NaVi's form
Let's open our analysis of NaVi vs MongolZ with an analysis of NaVi's form. In this match "born to win" play the first number with odds to win around 1.5.
NaVi had a series of good tournaments last season while still in the previous squad. They placed high in almost every one.
They started with a top 6 at BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2023. Then top-3 at IEM Katowice 2023 and a similar result at ESL Pro League Season 17.
NaVi took BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR A without any problems and qualified for the Major in Paris. Before the only Major of the season, Natus Vincere took the top 4 at the IEM Masters Rio 2023.
The Paris tournament turned out to be a failure for NaVi. Top-11 is hardly a decent result for a team of Natus Vincere's status.
- NaVi roster: w0nderful, b1t, Aleksib, jL, iM.
Before the Long Conner IEM Cologne NaVi made a global Reshuffle, translating the roster into English. In addition to electroNic, Perfecto and npl who left, jL with Apeks, iM with GamerLegion and Aleksib, who previously played for Ninjas in Pyjamas, joined the team.
With the new lineup, NaVi made their debut at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2023. "Born to Win" managed to earn a place in the autumn finals by finishing in the top 4-6.
At IEM Cologne 2023 Natus Vincere played two matches. First, they lost to MOUZ with a score of 0-2, and then defeated OG in Bo3. At the end of the top championship NaVi reached the top 8, which can be called a good result for the then renewed roster.
Then there were a number of appearances at major events with very good results. NaVi entered the top 8 at Gamers8 and took the top 2 at ESL Pro Legue Season 18.
The key tournament of the season for "yellow-black" can be called IEM Sydney 2023. There NaVi for the first time in a long time played without their main headliner S1mple, whose place was temporarily taken by coach B1ad3. Andrew tried, but NaVi could not jump above the top-12.
After S1mple left the active roster, NaVi started the game with w0nderful. He made his debut for the Yellow-Blacks at BLAST Premier: World Final 2023. Natus Vincere played him very well, reaching the top 4. In the match for the Grand Final Ledgeili future champions of the tournament and the best team in the world Vitality.
The year 2024 started with high notes - they became the best at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European Qualifier A. However, further on, the performance slipped a bit and NaVi took the top-12 at ESL Pro League Season 19 and IEM Dallas 2024, as well as the top-2 at BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2024.
Esports World Cup 2024 NaVi Long Competed with a solid 2-0 win over FURIA. Entering the play-offs, "born to win" fell to FaZe Clan in the first round. NaVi were again stronger than FaZe, but this time they won with the score 2-0. Then there was a rather difficult match against MOUZ, where NaVi lost on the first map with the score 1-13, but then they got together and made it to the grand final. In the final match they played against G2 Esports, where they won 2-1, thus winning their second prestigious tournament of the year.
At the BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024 NaVi Long Competed with a confident victory over BIG. But against Liquid "born to win" did not fare well, losing in a dramatic situation without defuse kits on the 3rd map. In the re-match with BIG they were stronger again, confidently shutting down the German club with a score of 2-0. However, they failed to move further into the top 6 at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024.
At the ESL Pro League Season 20 NAVI became the winners of Group A, passing Lynn Vision, NiP and Eternal Fire without any problems. NaVi started the ESL Pro League Season 20 playoffs with a victory over their principal rival - Team Spirit - and a confident 2-0 win. Next, they defeated G2 Esports (2-1) and defeated Eternal Fire in the EPL S20 final with a score of 3-2.
At IEM Rio 2024 NaVi qualified from Group A in second place, Ledgeiv Furia. In the play-offs, they beat Vp (2-0) and Heroic (2-1) in turn. And in the grand finals NaVi defeated MOUZ (3-1), thus becoming the champion of a major tournament for the 4th time in a season.
However, NaVi did not manage to be the best everywhere and everywhere. For example, at BLAST Premier: World Final 2024, where "Born to Win" failed to qualify for the play-offs.
At PW Shanghai Major 2024: European RMR A, NaVi won two matches, beating Fnatic and Sinners, but then lost to MOUZ in the match to qualify for the Major. However, they managed to reach the Elimination Stage at Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 at the second attempt, beating sAw 2-0.
Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024: Elimination Stage Natus Vincere Long They started with a victory over Liquid, and then lost to MIBR and Spirit. They knocked GamerLegion out of the tournament, but fell short against Heroic, leaving the World Championship one step away from the play-offs.
BLAST Bounty Season 1 Long They started off with a win over Imperial Female and then defeated Astralis. In play-offs they played against paiN and it was a very difficult match for the Ukrainian team, but still they won. And then - Spirit, losing 1-2 and TOP-4 in the end.
NaVi got to IEM Katowice 2025 by direct invitation, they started the group stage with a confident victory over FURIA with the score 2-0. Then a key 2-1 win over Spirit and an easy win against MongolZ in the match for seeding in the play-offs. However, after getting straight into the second round of play-offs, NaVi failed to cope with their eternal rival Spirit and ended up in the top 4.
At ESL Pro League Season 21 NaVi Long Sogpeg started with an unexpected defeat by sAw, but then, albeit with difficulty, managed to take the series against TYLOO and paiN. In the play-offs match they defeated G2 with a 2-0 win.
NaVi Mappool
NaVi's best map in 3 months is Inferno. The team played there 5 times with a win rate of 60 per cent.
On Mirage, Ancient. Nuker, Overpass and Anubis NaVi has 50% wins. On Ancient and Nuke the team played 4 matches each, on the others - 2.
Vertigo are not playing.
MongolZ Form
We continue the analysis of MongolZ vs NaVi match with the analysis of MongolZ form. In this match they play as an outsider with odds to win at 2.1.
Previously the team played mostly in TIR-2 tournaments, where they were not always successful. Among the notable marks is the victory at the XSE Pro League: Online Stage and ESN National Champioship 2023.
However, the Mongolians have also made their mark on the international scene. They played at the BLAST.tv Paris Major, where they finished in the top 20-22.
- The MongolZ roster: bLitz, Techno4K, 910, mzinho, Senzu.
The conditional roster newcomers are mzihno and 910. Both players joined the team a month ago, and before that they played for local teams like Clutch and The Shine.
In the first match at IEM Cologne 2023 The MongolZ will face MOUZ, who have already reached the group stage of the tournament. As you have already realised, The MongolZ lost their match, but lost on the dopes, Ledgeiv Nuke with a score of 17-19.
Then MongolZ ran over Into The Breach with the score 2-0, and then closed FURIA with a similar score. Thus advanced to the group stage.
In the first match of the group stage of IEM Cologne 2023 The MongolZ faced Heroic. Despite the huge difference in the level of play, The MongolZ managed to take the first map and almost slammed Heroic on their own peak, Overpass, but didn't finish and eventually lost with the score 1-2. However, it didn't go any further and the result was a top-16 finish.
After playing in the big tournament, TheMongolZ played a lot of smaller events. These included the MESA Pro Series: Fall 2023, with a top-1 finish, a win at ESL Challenger League Season 46: Asia-Pacific, and a top-4 finish at ESL Challenger at DreamHack Atlanta 2023.
In the 2024 season, before playing directly at the PGL CS 2 Copenhagen Major Championship 2024, MongolZ won the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: East Asia Qualifier, which guaranteed passage to the Asia-Pacific RMR. There was a Top 1 at eXTREMESLAND 2023 and a Top 20 at IEM Katowice 2024 during the break, but after a win at PGL Copenhagen 2024: Asia-Pacific RMR, where MongolZ celebrated the victory.
At PGL CS2 Copenhagen Major 2024 The Mongolz did not achieve much success, although they managed to reach the top 16.
In the group stage of ESL Pro League Season 19 The MongolZ performed very well. They defeated Falcons and G2 Esports 2-0 to advance to the play-offs. However, the first round of the play-offs ended with The MongolZ losing to Vp with a score of 1-2, eventually finishing in the top 12.
The MongolZ went on to take the top-1 spots at MESA Nomadic Masters Spring 2024 and YaLLa Compass 2024. There were more Top-9s at Esports World Cup 2024 and a second place finish at Skyesports Championship 2024.
One of the central tournaments of the season for MongolZ was the IEM Cologne 2024 Championship, where the club managed to reach the top-12. A similar result was also at the ESL Pro League Season 20. In addition, the Mongolian club visited the IEM Rio 2024, where they got to the TOP-8.
They also played at Thunderpick World Championship 2024, where they placed TOP-1, which was a great Long Sogpeg before the Asian RMR. At the home RMR, The MongolZ came out on top by taking two matches out of two.
The main tournament of the 2024 season was PW Shanghai Major 2024. The MongolZ demolished the Opening Stage with a 3-0 win, and then secured the result at the Elimination Stage with another 3-0 win over G2, MOUZ and Heroic. The MongolZ lost in the first round of play-offs to MOUZ, who were outplayed in Bo1. Thus, The MongolZ finished in the top 8 at PW Shanghai Major 2024.
The MongolZ started the 2025 season with an appearance in the group stage of IEM Katowice 2025. There the team beat Liquid and GamerLegion, earning a slot in the first round of play-offs. The team failed to advance directly to the semi-finals: NaVi were much stronger (2-0) in the Group B final. In the play-offs of IEM Katowice 2025 MongolZ Long teamed up against Eternal Fire and although the match ended 2-0 in favour of MongolZ, it was not easy for them. However, they failed to pass Vitality and at the end of IEM Katowice 2025 The MongolZ took the top 4.
At PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 Long Sogpeg started with a match against Complexity, where they won 2-0. Next came a 2-0 win over Wildcard and a 2-1 win over paiN. However, Long Corner's confidence did not pay off in the play-offs: MongolZ Ledge and Astralis were defeated in the first round of the main stage and left the tournament in the top 8.
They opened ESL Pro League Season 21 with a win over GamerLegion. Next, they defeated G2, lost to Team Spirit, and defeated 3DMax in the play-offs.
The MongolZ Mapple
The most successful map for 3 months was Ancient. The team has 100% winrate, but they played the map only 1 time.
Among the acceptable options for the peak there is Mirage with 1 win 1 loss.
On the other maps of the competition pool The MongolZ has a minus winrate.
History of personal meetings MongolZ - NaVi
This will be the 3rd match for the last year. NaVi have not lost before.
Predicted result of NaVi vs MongolZ at ESL Pro League Season 21
In this match I expect a spirited game from the two teams. If I have to pick a winner, it will be NaVi. After a bad Long Sogpeg against sAw in the group stage, they cameback well and looked especially good in the match against G2. MongolZ, still not bad, but I expect NaVi to win.
Bottom line: NaVi win.
