The Mongolz and Eternal Fire will face off in the playoffs of IEM Katowice 2025. Both teams confidently made it through the group stage, but now a place in the semifinals is at stake. The Mongolz have shown consistent gameplay, advancing to the playoffs through the upper bracket, while Eternal Fire had to fight for survival in the lower bracket. In this article, we'll analyze the current form of both teams, the possible map pool, and make a match prediction.
Current Form of the Teams
The Mongolz
The Mongolz demonstrate stable results in major tournaments. Their average event rating over the past month is 5.9. At the Perfect World Shanghai Major, the team confidently passed the Elimination stage with a score of 3-0 but was knocked out in the quarterfinals. At IEM Katowice 2025, The Mongolz once again performed admirably, reaching the playoffs through the upper bracket but losing to NAVI in the seeding match.
In their last five matches, the team secured three victories—against GamerLegion, Liquid, and HEROIC, but lost to NAVI and MOUZ.
Eternal Fire
Eternal Fire have shown the best form in recent weeks—their average rating is 6.2. At the BLAST Bounty Spring 2025: Closed Qualifier, the Turkish roster made it to the main stage and reached the grand final, where they lost to Spirit. At the IEM Katowice 2025: Play-in, the team confidently passed the qualifiers and then reached the playoffs through the lower bracket, after losing to Virtus.pro.
Team Map Pool
The Mongolz are highly likely to ban Vertigo, as it is their most frequent ban (29 times). Eternal Fire, on the other hand, traditionally remove Ancient, doing so 34 times. When choosing maps, The Mongolz might prefer Mirage or Ancient, both of which have a 67% win rate. Eternal Fire will likely opt for Anubis, where their stats are impressive—80% victories in 20 matches.
At the additional bans stage, The Mongolz will likely remove Nuke, as Eternal Fire often choose it, and the Turkish team, in response, will eliminate Inferno, where the opponents have a high win rate of 75%. Thus, the deciding map is likely to be Dust II, which remains in both teams' map pools, where The Mongolz have a 67% win rate, and Eternal Fire have 56%.
Head-to-Head Encounters
In the past six months, The Mongolz and Eternal Fire faced each other three times, with each match ending with a 2:1 score. Three months ago, The Mongolz claimed victory, four months ago, Eternal Fire emerged stronger, and six months ago, the Mongolian team was the winner again.
Match Prediction
The match promises to be intense, as both teams are in good form and have defeated each other before. Eternal Fire appears slightly more stable, winning 4 out of their last 5 matches, but The Mongolz have already shown they can stand up to the Turkish squad.
The key factor will be map selection. If The Mongolz manage to play Mirage or Inferno, their chances will significantly increase. However, Anubis will be a serious weapon for Eternal Fire.
Prediction: Eternal Fire will win with a score of 2:1.
IEM Katowice 2025 takes place from January 29 to February 9 in Katowice, Poland. Twenty-four teams will compete for a prize pool of $1 million. You can follow the event schedule and results here.
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