G2, Aurora and magic sweep into PGL Astana playoffs

Aurora Gaming, G2 Esports and magic clinched the final three playoff spots on Wednesday at the $800,000 PGL Astana 2026 event in Kazakhstan.

All three Round 5 matches were decided with sweeps as Aurora eliminated The MongolZ, G2 knocked out Monte and magic ousted Gentle Mates to conclude the group stage of the 16-team Counter-Strike 2 tournament.

The single-elimination playoffs begin on Friday. All matches are best-of-three until Sunday's best-of-five grand final, where the winning team will take home $256,000.

Aurora beat The MongolZ 13-11 on Overpass and 13-10 on Mirage, with Turkey's Ismailcan "XANTARES" Dortkardes posting a team-high 37 kills.

G2 made swift work of Monte, winning 13-2 on Ancient and 13-4 on Dust II as Israel's Guy "NertZ" Iluz and Nikita "HeavyGod" Martynenko each posted 33 kills.

Led by 26 kills from Russia's Andrey "AW" Anisimov, magic posted a 13-5 win on Mirage and a 16-13 decision on Inferno against Gentle Mates.

Friday's quarterfinal schedule:

--9z Team vs. magic

--Team Falcons vs. FURIA

--MOUZ vs. Aurora Gaming

--G2 Esports vs. Team Spirit

PGL Astana 2026 prize pool:

1. $256,000

2. $120,000

3. $96,000

4. $56,000

5-8. $40,000

9-11. $20,000 -- The MongolZ, Monte, Gentle Mates

12-14. $12,000 -- HEROIC, PARIVISION, The Huns Esports

15-16. $8,000 -- K27, Fisher College

--Field Level Media