The MongolZ start 2026 with a tournament to forget

The MongolZ kicked off their 2026 with a disappointing campaign at IEM Kraków 2026 as Asia's no.1 team exited in last place. The MongolZ were also debuting their new lineup with cobrazera joining the squad as a permanent replacement for Senzu.

Having declined an invite for BLAST Bounty 2026 Season 1, it meant that The MongolZ came into IEM Kraków 2026 colder than some of their opponents, who already had a couple of officials under their belt for the new season. A new year and a new lineup, with cobrazera, also meant that other teams also didn't have much information about The MongolZ with their new signing but it didn't turn out to be a deciding factor.

At IEM Kraków 2026, The MongolZ were given a direct invite to Stage 2 or the Group Stages, thanks to their high ranking in the VRS, which once again meant they were once again on the backfoot, especially given that they played a team like G2, who came into the group stages on the back off a strong Stage 1.

Placed in Group A, The MongolZ were in a group with the likes of Spirit, Astralis, FURIA, G2, Natus Vincere (NAVI), PARIVISION and FUT and while most didn't know what to expect from the new-look Mongolian squad, an exit this early wasn't on the cards either.

First up for The MongolZ was G2 and they were blown out of the server on G2's pick of Dust2 as they started their Kraków campaign with a 2-13 loss. They found some rhythm and form on their own pick of Ancient but G2 proved to be too strong as a 11-13 loss meant they went down in straight maps in their first game and were dropped to the lower bracket. It was a debut to forget for cobrazera, who put up a 0.89 rating but with a new player debuting, the bigger issue was that mzinho, a reliable piece for The MongolZ, had a horror series with a 0.51 rating while Techno also struggled with a 0.91 rating. 910 and bLitz were the only two players who had a rating of above 1 as they went 1.18 and 1.02 respectively.

In their elimination game, they face FURIA, who were stunned by FUT themselves, and The MongolZ had a tall task ahead of them. The MongolZ started with a comeback on Mirage but they dropped the ball on Inferno, dropping a 12-9 lead, especially to a couple of low buy rounds, that saw FURIA keep themselves alive with a 16-12 win. On the decider on Nuke, The MongolZ went missing as barring mzinho, none of the players could manage even double digit kills that saw them exit the tournament with a 2-13 loss, the same score line of their opening map in Kraków.

Two back-to-back losses means that The MongolZ have left IEM Kraków 2026 in last place with a single map win across the five maps they played. Although its only their first event of the year, the numbers don't look good for The MongolZ either. Other than their AWPer 910, all of The MongolZ players failed to put up a rating of above 0.87. 910 finished IEM Kraków 2026 with a 1.16 rating while Techno was the second highest with 0.87. cobrazera dropped a 0.86 rating in his debut event for The MongolZ while bLitz and mzinho struggled with a 0.78 and 0.77 rating respectively.

It is though, just one event and that also their first event with their new signing, which should give the Mongolian team some leeway. It certainly isn't the start The MongolZ wanted to 2026 but they might just bounce back hard for their next event, now that they have officials with cobrazera under their belt!

From Poland, The MongolZ will fly to Romania next for PGL-Cluj Napoca 2026, where they are one of the 16 invited teams for the $1.25 million tournament. The PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026 kicks off on February 14, 2026 and will go on until February 22, 2026.