MOUZ Sail Into EPL Playoffs Over 3DMAX

MOUZ Sail Into EPL Playoffs Over 3DMAX

Another top-five team has secured a quarterfinal berth in Stockholm, as MOUZ edged out 3DMAX to advance in ESL Pro League Season 22.

The German organization, long a mainstay in the upper echelons of Counter-Strike, has struggled to add trophies since its victory at PGL Cluj-Napoca earlier this year. Ádám “torzsi” Torzsás acknowledged that the team is still in a developmental phase, stating they are “building” toward peak condition for the upcoming Major.

“We know that this Pro League is a really good tournament to come back to officials because it has a long format and there are a lot of games to be played,” the Hungarian said.

Match Recap & Key Performances

MOUZ navigated the all-BO3 group stage with wins over GamerLegion, Gentle Mates, and finally 3DMAX, though they did drop a 2–0 match to Falcons earlier in the pool.

Inferno continued to be a strong map for MOUZ, where they added a 13–5 win in this match to earlier 13–3 (vs Falcons) and 13–4 (vs Gentle Mates) results in Stockholm.

On Inferno, MOUZ built a comfortable CT side lead (9–3), despite a rough patch for Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo, who posted a –10.6% round swing in the Pit role. Fortunately, Dorian “xertioN” Berman and torzsi delivered strong performances, both finishing above the 1.70 rating mark.

Their map pick, Overpass, turned into a back-and-forth affair. After losing the T pistol, 3DMAX built an 8–5 lead — but MOUZ responded to storm back and take it 13–8.

“It feels good to close a game out convincingly, not something we have usually done,” said coach Dennis “sycrone” Nielsen in a post-game interview.
He also praised their CT side on Inferno: “A lot of the things we worked on in practice, we managed to do. We played it with a lot of maturity; there's a lot of layers to our game.”

Broader Context & Additional Insights

Torzsi has had a strong stretch recently. Before the tournament, he spoke about using a month off to refine their strategies and focus on “advantageous situations” in practice. After one of their earlier wins in EPL, he said:

“I want to perform for the Major and I’m just building up for that.”

In previous months, he also reflected on the challenges in practice leading up to the Major, noting:

“The first 1–3 days of the bootcamp were not the best, but the last three days were amazing and it helped us a lot.”

Earlier in the year, after beating Falcons in IEM Dallas, torzsi remarked:

“We showed that in this moment we are really in shape and mentally we are in the game.”

Another storyline to watch this season is how MOUZ performs under pressure in deep playoff runs. Torzsi earlier described MOUZ as being “the second best team this season” and joked they just “need to get rid of Vitality.”

3DMAX, meanwhile, was unable to carry momentum past this stage. Their players — including Lucky, bodyy, Graviti, Ex3rcice, and Maka — put in solid efforts statistically, but they couldn’t close out the series.

Also of note in related news, kyxsan of Falcons recently spoke about communication being a recurring weakness in their matches, saying:

“Sometimes everyone tries to make a plan… when three people are talking on top of each other … we’re trying to work on our communication and trying to follow one plan.”

What’s Next for MOUZ

By clinching this win, MOUZ guarantee themselves a spot in the playoffs and a chance to compete for another EPL title. They’ll now look ahead to quarterfinal matchups and aim to carry the momentum forward.

Given their form on Inferno and their ability to close out Overpass after a deficit, they’ll be formidable opponents. But the pressure will ramp up, and much will depend on consistency, mental fortitude, and in-game adaptability.