Over the past three years, the CS2 team The MongolZ has risen from the ashes, won several big tournaments, secured a silver medal at a major and climbed to the top of global esports.

How did a squad from Mongolia, with a population of just 3.5 million people, manage to surpass the most prominent names from far-more-developed esports regions so quickly?

It began in 2013. At the time, the most popular esports discipline in the country was Dota 2, so the organization’s first roster was built around that game. Two years later, The MongolZ also formed a Counter-Strike lineup – choosing the most popular entertainment among teenagers in Ulan Bator’s Internet cafés.

The squad’s first significant achievement was winning Intel Extreme Masters X Taipei in 2016. But the overall results weren’t strong enough to secure a stable position among the top teams. Finally, at the end of 2022, the last players left the team and The MongolZ effectively ceased to exist.

The MongolZ story could have ended there. Fortunately, esports support in Mongolia has improved and a new generation of esports athletes, ready to conquer the highest levels, has emerged in the country.

Enter 1xBet

The international brand 1xBet believed in the new project and became the official partner of the young squad. The support of 1xBet helped players get back on their feet, providing the opportunity to develop and train in Europe, at the best boot camps alongside top teams.

Since the roster remained the same, the tournament operator has given The MongolZ permission to replace IHC Esports in the Asian qualifiers for the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023. Just a week after the rebrand, the team completed the task and headed to Paris for their first-ever major. The MongolZ’s performance wasn’t outstanding — just one win in the group stage, finishing 20th-22nd. However, the experience was invaluable. Nevertheless, by the end of 2023, The MongolZ had firmly settled around the 20th spot in the HLTV rankings and no longer suffered any significant dips.
At the start of 2024, Valve, the developer of Counter-Strike, launched its own official team ranking system. From that moment on, tournament organizers began issuing invitations based on the Valve Global Ranking. The MongolZ immediately landed at a relatively high 25th place.

The total prize money earned in 2024 exceeded $1 million, which allowed The MongolZ to enter the top five most financially successful teams of the season. The cumulative impact of their performances led the squad to break into the Top 10 for the first time in July. They finished in fourth place in the Valve rankings.

National Heroes

In February 2025, the achievements of The MongolZ were recognized at the highest level: The players were officially included in the roster of the Mongolia national team. The squad was invited to an official reception with the Minister of Culture, Sports, Tourism & Youth, who assured them of the government’s full support.

In the spring, the players surprised Mongolian fans by traveling to Ulan Bator for the MESA Nomadic Masters Spring 2025 tournament. The organizers came up with a unique format and arranged a show match between the current 2025 roster of The MongolZ and the original 2016 generation. It ended in a crushing lead for the younger squad and it seemed the match would be completely one-sided. However, in the second half, the old guard delivered a streak of five winning rounds, closing the gap.

In the first half of the current season, The MongolZ struggled to secure their first title but consistently reached the playoff stage of nearly every tournament they entered. In May, this stability was rewarded as the team broke into the Top Five of the HLTV rankings.

Texas Showdown

At the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025’s grand finale, The MongolZ faced the ultimate challenge – the world’s strongest team, Vitality. Due to the time difference with Austin, the grand final began at 3 a.m. Mongolian time and finished in the early morning. Despite this, the entire country supported The MongolZ — fan zones were set up in big Mongolian cities.
Had they won, The MongolZ would have become the first Asian squad in Counter-Strike history to win a major — until then, competitions of this level had been dominated by teams from Europe and the Americas.

Even winning silver made The MongolZ a topic of discussion worldwide. Thus, in September, The MongolZ were recognized as the best by both rankings, according to the game developer Valve and the most respected Counter-Strike publication, HLTV, which is a partner of 1xBet. Despite all their achievements, The MongolZ remains a young team with a bright future ahead. All that’s left is to wish Asia’s top squad to turn their ultimate dream into reality and win a major.

*** This article was originally published in January 2026 edition of Sports Betting Operator Magazine Issue 20 Volume 008***