Group stage of IEM Chengdu 2025 is now wrapped, and we’re going to playoffs. We have two quarterfinal matches set for November 7th: FURIA vs The MongolZ, and Astralis vs Vitality. The stakes get real in Chengdu, no oopsies allowed anymore – win, and you go to the semis – lose, and go straight back to the practice room.

FURIA vs The MongolZ

FURIA looked stable throughout the group stage, which wasn’t always the case with this newer core. FalleN’s IGL brought the tempo down from the old, chaotic FURIA. The addition of YEKINDAR, and the young upcoming AWP star molodoy, with KSCERATO and yuurih still being the backbone of the team, FURIA looks cleaner, more measured, and they don’t tilt off the map when things are not going their way – we all saw what FURIA did to NaVi in the Thunderpick World Championship 2025.

FURIA entered the playoffs being 2nd in group A, falling short in the upper-bracket final to MOUZ, in a very close decider map. They’ve shown great improvement in recent tournaments, and are a threat for any team they face.

The MongolZ on the other hand, continue to bully the big teams. Led by bLitz, this roster screams “we don’t care who you are” vibe. Everyone thought that they’ll be shaken up after benching one of their main players, Senzu, but if you ask Team Spirit, they’ll tell you otherwise. Still with the main core of bLitz, Techno4k, 910, and mzinho, they’re a pain for any team that faces them. Controlez, even people doubted if he’ll be able to fill Senzu’s shoes, seems to bring stability to the team.

Despite playing without their star rifler, The MongolZ came in swinging in the lower-bracket finals, eliminating donk’s Team Spirit in a comfortable fashion. Their stand-in, controlez, is proving to be a decent replacement for Senzu, putting up huge numbers in MongolZ’s win.

The big question here is whether MongolZ can shake FURIA’s rhythm, turning the pace up into the series. If they do, well, we saw what happened to the earlier favorite. If FURIA manages to keep things calmer and controlled, their recent consistency should win out over time.

The matchup feels close, sure, but I lean toward FURIA’s experience and composure. I’ll say FURIA wins this, but not comfortably. 2-1 feels realistic. The MongolZ have punch.

Astralis vs Vitality

This one has a bit more weight to it. Two teams with huge history behind them – just in different eras.

Astralis have been through many roster shake-ups, but the current roster finally makes some sense to me – at least on paper. dev1ce is still the anchor piece after all these years, and when he dials in, the entire team seem to breath easier. jabbi and Staehr’s firepower can not be underestimated, and Magisk coming back to the squad is something that still feels surreal, but his experience and clutch potential still matters a ton. HooXi is somewhat the wildcard – he’s not here to frag, but as an IGL, he for sure can control the pace and space for his team, in ways that are not shown to the stat sheets.

I think Astralis’ biggest problem is starting the series well. If everything clicks from the go, they can look great. But if they fall behind early, they just can’t catch on quickly enough. And facing a team that can easily punish that, like Vitality, is a big, big problem for them.

Vitality are the opposite: starting strong, and they’re usually the ones dictating the pace. ZywOo is still ZywOo – nothing needs to be added here, we all know what he can do. Adding ropz into the mix brought different kind of calm to the team – he never looks rushed, even if the rounds look a bit messy. flameZ is fragging like crazy lately, opening sites like he owns them. mezii handles the connective roles, shuffling anchor and pressure lanes, depending on the map. And lastly, apEX has been calling these big stage games for years now, and although he can be emotional, he always holds the structure of the team, and rarely breaks under pressure.

Team Vitality looks like the more complete team. They can textbook win, they can win ugly, they can slow games down to a stop, and still win games, and that’s the kind of game-style that does well in playoffs.

Astralis have the tools to win a map, sure, but in a best-of-three, I highly doubt ZywOo and the gang will let 2 maps slip away from them. If Vitality takes the first map, easy 2-0. If Astralis win the opener and put some pressure on them, we might have a series.