The MongolZ Eliminate Team Spirit from IEM Chengdu 2025

One of the most surprising upsets at IEM Chengdu 2025 came on the final day of the group stage, as The MongolZ managed to eliminate Team Spirit from the tournament. This win marks the first time MongolZ have won over the former Major winners in 451 days. It is also the first time since IEM Cologne 2024 that Team Spirit have failed to make the playoffs of a LAN. Could this be the start of something more sinister for Team Spirit?

controlez sparks a long-awaited breakthrough

Heading into Chengdu, most believed Spirit’s streak of dominance over The MongolZ would continue. They had won seven maps in a row against the Mongolian lineup, rarely looking troubled. But that narrative finally cracked thanks to 28-year-old “rookie” Unudelger “controlez” Baasanjargal.

With star rifler Azbayar “Senzu” Munkhbold absent, The MongolZ called upon controlez – a player long seen as talented but untested at this level. Although he had some huge shoes to fill coming into the team, he managed to integrate without much hassle. Good aim paired with good game sense gave MongolZ the edge that many speculated they would miss with the absence of their best player.

Quick Match Recap

The MongolZ kicked off the series with a blistering performance on Dust2, catching Spirit completely off guard. Spirit’s coordination faltered early, while The MongolZ thrived on their trademark aggression and crisp teamwork. Ancient turned into a marathon of tense moments, stretching into double overtime, Spirit narrowly clinched the map, forcing a Mirage decider.

On Mirage – a map that has long been one of their best – The MongolZ stormed to a 7-1 start. With that cushion, they managed to weather Spirit’s late round wins and closed the series with some trademark composure. It was, for the first time since Cologne 2024, a victory that truly felt like an arrival rather than an upset.

Is tN1R the problem?

Like with Jakub "jcobbb" Pietruszewski and FaZe Clan, it would be disingenuous to blame the entirety of the Spirit’s lackluster performance on the head of a new player. But the numbers from the tournament say otherwise.

Team Spirit have played 4 matches in their entire run in Chengdu, and are going out with a 2-2 record, and tN1R has gone negative in all of those matches, save for this one against MongolZ. An empty result, true, but the problems with Team Spirit seem to go deeper than just bad performances from one player.

Team Spirit's performances in the last 4 matches (Image Exclusive to Strafe Esports)

Although the other one of Spirit’s new signings, Ivan “zweih” Gogin has managed to gel well with the roster, his performances in the last three games left more to be desired. Spirit’s gamble on bringing in two new players to replace two of their Major-winning roster seemed to have paid off at first, but the same cracks that they had back then are also starting to show now as well.

By now it is evident that Spirit’s age-old strategy of ‘donk go kill’ has started to show its age. In a time where teams like Vitality and even a resurging FURIA have focused on building more well-rounded rosters, Spirit’s philosophy on building around a star player feels like a relic from yesteryear.

Looking Ahead

With this phenomenal result under their belt, MongolZ are now moving onto the playoffs and have their next game cut out for them against FURIA.

For Team Spirit, this defeat should serve as a reality check. With the Major just over two weeks away, the team needs to take a hard look at what went wrong and start rebuilding their rhythm. Spirit are far from being underdogs; they’ve already lifted trophies at Cologne and BLAST Bounty Fall this season. The good news is, there’s still time to regroup, refocus, and remind everyone why they were once considered one of the most dominant rosters in the scene.

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Featured Image Credit: ESL

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