MOUZ and The MongolZ look to upset the odds in ESL Pro League S21 Semi-Finals

ESL Pro League Season 21 is hurtling towards its conclusion, with just four teams remaining in the fight to lift the trophy on Championship Sunday. Two exciting matchups await as we look to determine our Grand Finalists, with some interesting storylines for all the teams involved.

I’m taking a look at both matches in the ESL Pro League Semi-Finals to see who has the best chance of emerging victorious and locking in those Grand Final slots. No time to waste!

MOUZ vs. Spirit

First up in the ESL Pro League S21 Semi-Finals in MOUZ vs. Team Spirit, the two favorites of their side of the bracket meeting for the chance to become Finalists. MOUZ under siuhy won ESL Pro League Seasons 18 and 19, meaning this roster is quite accustomed to this particular event. Meanwhile, Team Spirit are more than comfortable winning Counter-Strike’s biggest tournaments, but are yet to get an ESL Pro League trophy under their belt. A fascinating matchup.

Throughout the event so far, Team Spirit has seen plenty of great things from donk, and were even able to win their Quarter-Final against Eternal Fire without him firing on all cylinders. It’s a great sign if I ever saw one. However, they do have a tendency to make things much harder than they should be for themselves, which must come into consideration.

For MOUZ, it’s a good sign that their kills are pretty spread out across the board. No one is massively underperforming, and even Brollan is keeping a good level despite settling into the IGL role fully now. I am a little concerned that MOUZ went life and death with a frankly average G2 roster, though. If that’s their level, then I’m backing Team Spirit to take this ESL Pro League S21 Semi-Final.

My prediction: MOUZ 0:2 Team Spirit

Team Vitality vs. The MongolZ

Over on the other side of the ESL Pro League Playoffs bracket, Team Vitality will face off against The MongolZ. The former are staking their claim for the best CS2 team in the world right now, making pretty short work of everyone in their path at ESL Pro League. For The MongolZ, this will be their latest test to establish themselves as a team that can compete for titles, after their very impressive win over NAVI in the round prior.

What’s not to love about this Team Vitality roster? They’ve ascended to another level since signing ropz, even figuring out the secret to making mezii work on the team, arguably the weak spot throughout 2024. It’s really difficult to see where a series loss for this team comes from in this kind of remarkable form. Their hard-fought win over Team Liquid was just the latest example of their vast potential.

But then, it’s unfair to rule out The MongolZ’s chances here based on Vitality’s form. The best Asian Counter-Strike team of all time has found a way to get all of their players firing consistently, and with that comes a solid set of results. I think they could make life very difficult for Vitality, and even take a map if the circumstances are right. Ultimately though, I expect Vitality and Spirit to set up a rematch of their IEM Katowice Grand Final from last month.

My prediction: Team Vitality 2:1 The MongolZ