The first semifinal of the IEM Dallas playoffs is set with MOUZ taking on The MongolZ, but which one is worth betting on?
MOUZ looked great in the IEM Dallas group stage; perhaps even better than its archrival, Vitality. The MongolZ haven’t been slouching, but a successful-but-messy showing against Aurora Gaming in the quarterfinals tamped down some of the excitement surrounding the team after it took a map win over Vitality.
So what’s the outlook on their upcoming showdown? Here’s everything you need to know about MOUZ vs The MongolZ before betting.
QUARTER-FINAL! TheMongolz vs Aurora – HIGHLIGHTS – IEM Dallas 2025 | CS2
MOUZ and The MongolZ will face off for a spot in the IEM Dallas finals on May 24, 2025. This is a best-of-three elimination match, so the loser will finish in a shared third-place spot. They will take home a $25,000 prize, but will miss out on the larger share of the prize pool and will miss out on winning the first tournament of the new Intel Grand Slam season.
MOUZ has received some criticism from fans during IEM Dallas for being a “boring” team that lacks star power and personality relative to the likes of Vitality and FaZe Clan. While the squad has been controversy-free on social media, IEM Dallas has let them show their flair on-server.
Ádám “torzsi” Torzsás is the top-rated player of IEM Dallas by a mile and has performed at a level on par with anything seen from Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev or Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov. Lotan “Spinx” Giladi has also done more than his share, scoring key kills and making big plays on the fly. With The MongolZ looking a bit out of sorts during its playoffs match against Aurora Gaming, they have a bit of space to take their foot off the gas.
MOUZ blazed through the IEM Dallas group stage in just six maps. Before this, the team placed top four in BLAST Rivals Spring.
MOUZ has had a largely stable roster over recent years, and the full lineup is in attendance for IEM Dallas:
MOUZ is quietly on a nine-game winning streak on Ancient, and has been generally dominant on Nuke and Mirage against every team that isn’t Team Falcons or Vitality. Its Achilles heel has been Inferno, where the team is 3-8 over the last three months. MOUZ also continues to ban Anubis.
The MongolZ went 2-1 in the IEM Dallas group stage
The MongolZ made the brutal trip from PGL Astana to IEM Dallas, and have looked solid despite almost certainly being badly jetlagged:
The MongolZ hasn’t really been bad anywhere in 2025, but it’s below .500 this year on Anubis and Nuke so far. It’s the team’s strength on Mirage and Inferno that has kept The MongolZ in the top-five conversation all year. The team consistently bans Train though, which doesn’t really hurt MOUZ.
MOUZ and The MongolZ have only played against each other once in 2025 so far. MOUZ won that match, which happened in the IEM Melbourne group stage. The only other time where these teams played was in the Shanghai Major, where The MongolZ won a best-of-one in the group stage while MOUZ took a 2-0 playoff match.
WINNER TO SEMI-FINAL! MOUZ vs Falcons – HIGHLIGHTS – IEM Dallas 2025 | CS2
MOUZ is a decent betting favorite when it comes to the IEM Dallas semifinals. The team has a 1.63 moneyline against The MongolZ’s 2.22. Betting sites are definitely favoring the European squad, but are showing lots of respect to The MongolZ with this line.
MOUZ will likely defeat The MongolZ to take a spot in the IEM Dallas finals. The team lost some of its swagger in the last month, but it’s looking very strong in Texas. MOUZ feels like a real candidate to win the finals, but almost a shoo-in to earn a spot there.
Think you know who will win? Place your bets here!
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