The MongolZ broke away from HEROIC for a 3-1 victory on Sunday in the grand final of the Thunderpick World Championship in Berlin.
The MongolZ won the final two maps after a 1-1 tie to clinch first place and the $500,000 grand prize. HEROIC settled for second place and a $150,000 prize.
The MongolZ opened the grand final with a 13-8 triumph on Dust II, but HEROIC countered with a 13-6 result on Ancient. The pivotal third map saw The MongolZ eke out a 13-11 win on Anubis before blowing HEROIC out 13-2 on Mirage for the best-of-five victory.
Garidmagnai “bLitz” Byambasuren and Munkhbold “Senzu” Azbayar led the all-Mongolian winning team with 68 kills apiece; bLitz posted a match-high plus-18 kills-to-deaths differential, and Senzu added a plus-15 K-D.
Guy “NertZ” Iluz of Israel and Rene “TeSeS” Madsen of Denmark each recorded 63 kills and plus-6 differentials to pace HEROIC.
There was also a third-place match Sunday, and 3DMAX rallied from an early deficit for a 2-1 victory over OG. After OG won 13-6 on Dust II, 3DMAX tied things up with a 13-10 result on Ancient and finished the job with a 13-6 triumph on Nuke.
Thomas “Djoko” Pavoni led the all-French 3DMAX roster with 52 kills on a plus-6 K-D.
The $850,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament began on Oct. 21.
A series of qualifiers in Europe, North America and South America set the 16-team field for the World Championship. The teams were divided into four groups of four teams. Each group played a double-elimination tournament (best-of-three format), with the group winner advancing to the quarterfinals and the second- and third-place teams playing a decider match for the group’s other spot in the quarterfinals.
The single-elimination playoffs were best-of-three matches until for the best-of-five grand final.
Thunderpick World Championship prize pool
1. $500,000 — The MongolZ
2. $150,000 — HEROIC
3. $70,000 — 3DMAX
4. $50,000 — OG
5-8. $20,000 — BESTIA, Imperial Esports, Fnatic, BIG
9-12. no money — Virtus.pro, Cloud9, Ninjas in Pyjamas, M80
13-16. no money — Team Falcons, 9z Team, Legacy, Aurora Gaming
–Field Level Media