NaVi and The MongolZ made it out of the ESL Pro League Season 21 group stages, but only one of them has the chance to advance to the semifinals.
The strength of competition in ESL Pro League Season 21’s playoffs is downright ridiculous. While fans love a good surprise, a strong case can be made that the eight teams heading to the playoffs of this event are actually the eight best in the world. That means that every match is an exciting one, and The MongolZ vs NaVi is no exception. How should bettors approach this one?
WINNER TO PLAYOFFS! G2 vs NAVI – HIGHLIGHTS – ESL Pro League Season 21 | CS2
The MongolZ and NaVi will face off in the ESL Pro League Season 21 playoffs on March 14, 2025. The playoffs are an eight-team single elimination bracket. The winner of this match faces the winner of Team Vitality vs Team Liquid, while the loser goes home.
The MongolZ went from being a regional squad to an international threat in 2024. That was cemented with a win in the Thunderpick World Championship 2024, followed by a top-eight finish in the Shanghai Major. It’s been strong in 2025 thus far too, reaching the top four in IEM Katowice 2025 and placing top-eight in PGL Cluj Napoca.
Here is The MongolZ’s roster:
Inferno and Ancient are historically The MongolZ’s best maps, with a 70% or better winrate on either map over the last year. It’s not really weak anywhere, with its weakest map being Nuke, where it still has an almost 50% winrate.
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev’s absence still looms large over NaVi, but fans of the organization have enjoyed strong success thanks to Aleksib’s captaining. The team won the PGL Copenhagen Major in 2024 alongside several other prominent events. While it was a surprise group stage elimination in the Shanghai Major, it followed that up with a strong top-four finish in IEM Katowice 2025.
Here is NaVi’s roster at ESL Pro League Season 21:
NaVi is roundly great, but it’s not winning every time. Its best maps over the last six months is Ancient, where it has won 70% of the time. Its absolute worst map still isn’t bad, winning 50% or more on Nuke and Inferno. There’s a limited sample size when it comes to Train and Anubis though, but technically has a 100% winrate in the handful of games it has played on those maps.
NaVi and The MongolZ have crossed paths three times in history, with NaVi winning each time. Two of those were best-of-ones in 2024, but the teams faced off in IEM Katowice 2025. NaVi won that match 2-0 in decisive fashion.
NaVi is a being regarded as a big favorite over The MongolZ, with betting sites having NaVi’s moneyline around 1.46. The MongolZ is set at 2.67. That hints that the bookies are quite confident in NaVi’s chances, despite these teams being rated fairly similarly.
NaVi should be able to defeat The MongolZ. Though the bookies might be overstating how much of a favorite NaVi is here, few teams should be looked at as NaVi’s equal right now. NaVi remains a real candidate to win ESL Pro League Season 21, though this match isn’t a slam dunk victory, either.
Think you know who will win? Place your bets here!
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