JBa struggles, Wildcard fall to The MongolZ in two maps in Cluj-Napoca
Wildcard were always going to be fighting uphill, facing The MongolZ, who are one of the favorites to win this event outright. The loss puts the international roster at 1-1, two wins from playoff qualification and two losses away from elimination.
Inferno was a tight map, with the Mongolians stealing Wildcard's map pick in overtime. Both teams found more joy on their T sides, exchanging 9-3 scorelines before the game entered the extra periods. Wildcard will be very disappointed, as they held a 12-7 lead on their CT side, before fumbling the lead and allowing The MongolZ back into the game. They also had a shot at winning the map in the first overtime, losing at 15-14. The MongolZ then won the second overtime 4-1 to secure Wildcard's pick. Munkhbold "Senzu" Azbayar stood out, registering a server-high 30 frags to lead his side to victory.
The second map saw Wildcard put up another solid fight, but they were no match for the #3 team in Valve's rankings. The MongolZ held a lead of 7-5 after the first half, and would successfully defend that lead, winning the second map by a score of 13-10. Senzu put up another solid showing in a great team effort, logging nine frags on each side to match his teammate Ayush "mzinho" Batbold's map-leading 18 kills.
The MongolZWildcard| The MongolZ |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Garidmagnai 'bLitz' Byambasuren |
40 - 35 | +5 | 93.8 | 82.8% | 1.23 |
| Munkhbold 'Senzu' Azbayar |
48 - 37 | +11 | 78.6 | 79.3% | 1.21 |
| Sodbayar 'Techno' Munkhbold |
34 - 41 | -7 | 79.7 | 75.9% | 1.04 |
| Usukhbayar '910' Banzragch |
39 - 32 | +7 | 66.0 | 65.5% | 1.00 |
| Ayush 'mzinho' Batbold |
35 - 32 | +3 | 61.2 | 74.1% | 0.99 |
| Wildcard |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Tim 'susp' Ångström |
43 - 40 | +3 | 88.8 | 62.1% | 1.18 |
| Love 'phzy' Smidebrant |
45 - 37 | +8 | 74.9 | 60.3% | 1.08 |
 Aran 'Sonic' Groesbeek |
35 - 37 | -2 | 68.3 | 65.5% | 0.91 |
 Peter 'stanislaw' Jarguz |
31 - 41 | -10 | 59.9 | 63.8% | 0.77 |
 Josh 'JBa' Barutt |
18 - 43 | -25 | 47.5 | 67.2% | 0.60 |
Josh "JBa" Barutt has shown promise for Wildcard, but the 20-year-old will soon want to forget this showing. The American was only able to secure 18 frags to a match-high 43 deaths.
Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz's men are now in the 1-1 pool and will be back in the server tomorrow, hoping to right the ship and get back to winning ways.
