MOUZ gave a surprise against Team Spirit, lifting the trophy at PGL Wallachia Season 6

Mouz became the Dota 2 PGL Wallachia Season 6 champion after defeating Team Spirit in a crucial match that highlighted the Western European team’s skill and ability to bide time and maintain a lead despite losing teamfights.

“Basically, we are a team of rejects. Players that other Tier 1 teams might not want. But together, I think we are one of the best right now,” Mouz coach Daniel “ImmortalFaith” Moza said in a post-match interview.

The MOUZ roster consists of players who were once part of the active roster of several Tier 1 teams. They got Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng who came from Team Secret’s inactive roster, Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov from NAVI, and Daniyal “yamich” Lazebnyy who is a former Team Secret and support 9Panda. Their carry, Crystallis, is not yet officially a member of the team because he is still a loan player from Team Tundra.

Despite an impressive top 4 finish at BLAST SLAM IV, Mouz suffered a major setback before the start of PGL Wallachia Season 6, after they announced that Seleri and Crystallis would not be taking part in the tournament immediately due to health concerns. This prompted the captainless team to call up several substitutes: Daniel “Ghost” Chan and Oleg “Kaori” Medvedok.

MOUZ against Team Liquid in the lower bracket final (Image via PGL ESPORTS)

With the help of their stand-in, MOUZ managed to survive the group stage, registering a record of three wins and one loss against Team Spirit, securing fifth place. Luckily, Crystallis rejoined the team at the start of the playoffs, where they had to face PARIVISION to fight to stay in the upper bracket.

PARIVISION achieved victory over MOUZ, making them slump to continue their struggle in the lower bracket. MOUZ have performed much better since then, dashing the last hopes of South America and Southeast Asia in Heroic and OG.

The final two series in the upper bracket tested MOUZ’s mettle to the max, with BetBoom and Team Liquid standing in their way to the grand final. MidOne and company pulled off an incredible reverse sweep over BetBoom and a thrilling win in Game 3 against Team Liquid, who almost looked unstoppable during the group stage.

PGL Wallachia Season 6 Playoff Results (Screenshot via Liquipedia)

MOUZ finally reached the grand finals, and the scene was set for a classic WEU versus EEU showdown. Team Spirit, with their strong counter initiation and skill in beating opponents, came out on top by winning the first game of the best-of-five series.

Games 2 and 3 showed a different story, when MOUZ hit Team Spirit harder again with a well-designed core and a choice of disruptive support heroes. Team Spirit still responded with their usual counter-initiation, but despite winning many team fights, MOUZ turned out to be the better team.

Game 4 looked a bit gloomy for MOUZ, with the collapse of Team Spirit leading his team to take advantage of Underlord’s global presence, supported by the aggressive play of Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk’s Abaddon and Denis “Larl” Sigitov’s Pangolier.

While Team Spirit would do what Team Spirit usually does to achieve a comeback win, Game 5 was the highlight for all MOUZ players.

From Kaori’s well-placed Macropyres and Ice Paths, BOOM’s nearly unkillable Timbersaw to MidOne chasing low-HP Team Spirit heroes, all supported MOUZ, giving the organization their first tier one championship since 2013, when they won RaidCall EMS One Summer Season as mousesports.

At X, MidOne thanked his team and admitted he was surprised by how they did in the tournament. He said that it has been a tough journey, but this is just the beginning for the MOUZ team.

Keep up with all the Dota 2 news and guides at esports.gg.