16.04.20243 min read

Post-major news?

ESL Challenger Jonkoping 2024

The MongolZ had a strong performance at the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024. They returned home on March 26 and immediately set their sights on the ESL Challenger: Jonkoping 2024, which was Asia’s closed qualifier for the 2024 competition.

The matches took place from April 2nd to April 3rd, and The MongolZ and Lynn Vision teams were directly invited to the tournament due to their top rankings in the ESL World Ranking, while LYG Gaming and ATOX Esports teams secured their spots through the open qualifier, so the games were held among 4 teams.

The matches were played as Best of 3 in a double-elimination bracket, and in the opening game, MongolZ lost to LYG Gaming from Russia 1-2, which caused a major scandal. The MongolZ posted on their Facebook page that the match was in fact “The MongolZ vs. The Cheaters” claiming that their opponents were not playing fair.

According to The MongolZ, the opponents were using radar hack and aim assist, but without concrete proof, the tournament organizers took no action. Despite dropping to the bottom of the table after their loss, The MongolZ fought their way back and ultimately managed to qualify for the ESL Challenger: Jonkoping.

ESN National Championship

This was followed by the ESN National Championship 2024, a domestic tournament, in which 4 invited teams played against 4 teams from the open qualifiers in a double-elimination, Best of 3 format.

This is the third year hosting this competition, and this time the prize has increased to 30 million MNT; 1st place 15 million, 2nd place 10 million and 3rd place 5 million respectively. The matches of the early stages of the tournament took place at ESN’s own LAN studios, with the lower table finals and the grand finals taking place the following Sunday, April 14 at the UG Arena.

They also hosted a mid-tournament Showmatch with a mixed line-up of professional players and commentators. The two teams participating in the match were led by Kei and bLitz.

IEM Chengdu 2024

While the above 2 tournaments were held domestically, IEM Chengdu 2024 took place internationally. This is the Intel Extreme Masters tournament which was held in China 5 years after IEM Beijing 2019. The tournament, which runs from April 8 to April 14, features a match schedule designed to be convenient for Asian viewers.

Unfortunately, in the Asian qualifier, The MongolZ lost to TYLOO from China. Additionally, just 2 days before the tournament started, Monte, which had Ukrainian players, announced that they couldn’t participate. As a result, Steel Helmet, who finished 3rd in the Chinese regional qualifiers, took their place in the tournament.

A total of 16 teams competed in the tournament, including 3 teams from China, but they all dropped out quite early in the tournament which showed once again that the gap between the Asian and European teams was still high.

Astralis and Team Liquid, who failed to participate in the last major, are participating in this tournament. They showed that they were well prepared and qualified for the finals where they will compete with such big teams as FaZe, G2, and MOUZ.

The final match of the competition will take place this weekend at the Wuliangye Chengdu Performing Arts Centre, where the winning team will receive $100,000, as well as the right to participate in IEM Cologne 2024 competition in Cologne, Germany, in August.

AuthorTemujin Batbayar

Analyst from Ulaanbaatar specializing in CS2. Has competed in MESA tournaments, worked with Esports TV during the ESL Pro League, and reviewed both the PGL Major Antwerp 2022 and IEM Katowice 2024. Author of his own player evaluation metrics and known for accurate predictions. Has interviewed s1mple and ZywOo. In esports since the days of CS 1.3.