The reigning champions The MongolZ opened PGL Masters Bucharest with an upset 2-1 win over Aurora. The map scores were Inferno 12-16, Nuke 13-2 and Dust2 13-9. Aurora, who feature Macedonian player Damjan "kyxsan" Stoilkovski, are now in the 0-1 pool, while The MongolZ moved into the 1-0 pool.
Aurora took the opening map, Inferno, in overtime thanks to a strong performance from Ali "Wicadia" Haydar Yalçın. The MongolZ then dominated Nuke 13-2 and carried that momentum into the Dust2 decider.
On Dust2, Usukhbayar "910" Banzragch (1.55 map rating) and Sodbayar "Techno" Munkhbold (1.51) led the way. Helped by two won pistol rounds, The MongolZ closed out the series 13-9. Kyxsan finished the series with 27 kills, 49 deaths and a 0.74 rating.
The Mongolian team are making their tier-one debut with Yesuntumur "nin9" Gantulga, who averaged a steady 1.04 rating. The win came just days after The MongolZ lifted the 1win Private Club Season 2 title.
The victory earned The MongolZ a further 84 VRS points, putting their chances of qualifying for Singapore Major Stage 2 at 98.4%.