From October 24 to 31, the Romanian capital will host PGL Masters Bucharest 2026, one of the fall season’s biggest Counter-Strike 2 tournaments. Over the week, the world’s best teams will fight for the title of the strongest, and one of the participants to watch is The MongolZ, sponsored by 1xBet.
PGL Masters sticks to the classic tournament format. Teams first have to get through a grueling Swiss Stage, where three wins send a team to the playoffs and three losses send it home. Next comes a single-elimination bracket, where losing one series means elimination. All playoff matches are best-of-3 (Bo3), and the grand final is a best-of-5 (Bo5).
The organizers have put together an elite field: 16 of the world’s strongest teams will battle for a $1.25 million prize pool, so expect fierce competition. Team Vitality, MOUZ, FURIA, Falcons and other top teams that regularly go deep at S-Tier tournaments are all heading to Bucharest.
The MongolZ is one of them, and the Mongolian organization already knows what it can do on the Romanian stage. In April, it took bronze at PGL Bucharest 2026, losing to FUT in the semifinals and then beating 3DMAX in the third-place match. Its return to Bucharest comes at a far more interesting point in The MongolZ’s story.
The MongolZ kept a stable roster for more than two years, but it has made several player changes over the past few months. Two Mongolian players left the team, and two newcomers joined in the summer, though they didn’t stay in the starting lineup for long. Both were benched in September. By early October, The MongolZ had completed its squad: cobrazera returned to the starting lineup, and nin9 came in as the second new addition. Yesuntumur “nin9” Gantulga played for The MongolZ back in 2018-19. He will now help shape the game of a team that has won the Esports World Cup and reached the final of the Austin Major in the past two years.
The level of organization shows how big this event is. The Bucharest tournament connects two of 1xBet’s long-term esports projects. The brand backs the Mongolian team on its way to the top of the global scene and is also the exclusive betting partner of tournament operator PGL. That partnership was recently extended through 2029, which shows 1xBet’s commitment to esports and the wider esports community.
This spring, The MongolZ made the podium in Romania.
This fall, the team has to start almost from scratch with new players, and only the matches can answer the question: can the revamped squad make another run at the title?
