What to expect from M80 v. The MongolZ

Day two of the Esports World Cup 2024 has already provided a massive upset as M80 came back from a 1-7 deficit to steal away a victory against Complexity on Anubis in Overtime. It was a thrilling match that saw a huge momentum shift, with rookie Mason "Lake" Sanderson leading the way for his new team.

M80 now have another challenge on their hands as they need to take down Asia's best squad, The MongolZ. The lineup have been dominating the scene in recent months and proven that they can hang with some of the best in the world. The Mongolian squad will be favored in this matchup, but with an unpredictable M80, NA might be able to pull through with a trick up their sleeve.

Also read: M80 SHOCK Complexity in NA Elimination Derby

The Lake Effect

There is a weather phenomenon in the Midwest called "The Lake Effect". It's when there are massive, massive snowstorms because they take in moisture from the Great Lakes. It dumps snow across the region and puts entire states into gridlock. Well, consider today to be the Lake Effect and for M80 to win, they need to ride it through.

M80's confidence has to be sky high right now, lean into it
Nerves caused them to drop at first against Complexity, but resilience lead them to victory
Trust in the Lake Effect - the rookie proved he can hang amongst the best

Mongolia's Men

I call them men, but they are technically still young boys. They play like veterans but have the ages of rookies. Some of the lineup's best players are even younger than Lake. Regardless, this team is dangerous and always fun to watch. The MongolZ are the favored side here and are likely to stop this upstart American squad right in their tracks.

mzinho has to be stopped to have a chance
slaxz- needs to win the AWP battle over 910
senzu and bLitz are the crucial duo to be stymied

Also read: Lake: "We knew we had the momentum, we knew we had to keep going."

Previous Matchups

Surprisingly, these two teams have never faced each other.

Likely Vetoes

As a reminder, the play-in stage of EWC 2024 is all Bo1, for some reason, meaning the veto will be slightly different here as both teams aim for a fairly neutral map as they look to stay alive on a razor's edge. As the higher-seeded team, we will proceed under the impression The MongolZ choose to ban last.

M80 ban Nuke (Permaban)
The MongolZ ban Vertigo (Permaban)
The MongolZ ban Dust2 (Two maps played, no real history)
M80 ban Inferno (MongolZ has better Winrate %)
M80 ban Mirage (MongolZ has better Winrate %)
The MongolZ ban Ancient (55% Winrate, M80 has 81% and plays it More)
Anubis will be played

M80 will likely want to funnel this to either Ancient or Anubis as it will give them a decent advantage in the Bo1. Their win over Complexity allows them to have a better familiarity with the map and figuring out what was working well for them. As well, Ancient is a map deep in their advantage. The MongolZ will definitely want to see one of Mirage, Inferno, or Nuke in the lineup unless they have been working on their Dust2 in recent times.

M80 and The MongolZ are set to battle shortly.

Also read: Maniac on Complexity's loss: "This is an absolute disaster, it's a laughable result"