The Warriors - The MongolZ IEM Cologne Major Preview

The masses scatter when The Warriors come out to play.

The MongolZ come into Cologne with big dreams and mixed expectations. We've seen them be one of the best teams in the world for what feels like ages now, and at times have touched greatness with the tips of their fingers and let it go - but the sudden departure of Senzu felt like it was going to be the end of the story.

It hasn't been, at all. cobrazera has deputised well for the outgoing star for the most part and The MongolZ have still secured a top eight spot in the Major, but we've not seen them reach the heights of yesteryear.

And while we've said cobrazera has deputised well, that's more of a narrative thing that people say (or more accurately, said). The truth is he's just simply not as good.

Senzu hasn't been brilliant on BC.Game, just sort of average, but our data still ranks him slightly higher than cobrazera despite having totally different positions on the CT side, which we mention as cobrazera was largely supposed to be a plug and play for Senzu, but actually has swapped some of his roles to weaker ones.

You can argue that cobrazera is playing worse because he's changed roles, but we think the real truth is more that he's changed roles because he's worse.

Which brings us onto another issue, and the one that we think actually stops The MongolZ from being a genuinely great team. The primary rotator is instead bLitz, who just isn't good enough to justify it. Not even close.

We're being quite mean to begin this one because we care. We like The MongolZ and want to see them succeed, and it's a shame to see them hamstring themselves so badly. Perhaps there's nobody who really likes primary rotating and bLitz just does it to fill the gap, but that speaks to the fact that The MongolZ' pool of players being limited to just Mongolian speakers is a real issue for them.

So is that it then? The MongolZ are never going to do anything at the Major?

Not as such. 910 is one of the few genuinely excellent AWPers around these days. To consistently put up the numbers he does against top class opposition is very impressive, in an era (and event) where it feels like so few can. Our data has him around the middle of tier one AWPers (which is impressive enough on its own), but on a team of scrappers who haven't been great this year that's pretty fantastic.

mzinho is getting a decent amount of work done with limited resources for a player of his position and skill, and Techno despite 'underperforming' is a little hard done by, because he gets all the horrible roles and no rifles to do it with. Those three are perfectly capable of being on an elite team, for our money.

bLitz is, unfortunately, not as a star player. As a caller he remains capable and The MongolZ' continued success with him at the helm is no coincidence, but he should not be in the roles he's doing. Primary rotator, prioritised with weaponry, allowed to refrag exclusively on executes and still putting up IGL numbers just isn't good enough.

We expect The MongolZ to be a top eight team, in truth. 910 is still one of the best eight AWPers in the world and while so many teams are running out mediocre snipers, having an elite one feels like cheating. Mongolz' numbers aren't great, but they don't get to farm against weak teams all that much. Of course their numbers are middling, they play elite teams!

The Warriors are here to play, but are likely to get caught up in the small details when push comes to shove. Top eight would be a successful venture given the Senzu situation - though they might agree.