MongolZ, Spirit lock up playoff spots at PGL Astana

Field Level Media|published: Mon 12th May, 12:52 2025

A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home. Jordan Woodruff

The MongolZ and Team Spirit improved to 3-0 in the group stage and locked up their playoff spots on Monday at the PGL Astana 2025 tournament.

MongolZ swept Natus Vincere and Spirit swept Astralis in their Round 3 High Matches. MongolZ posted consecutive 13-11 wins on Inferno and Mirage, while Spirit earned a 13-7 win on Dust II and a 13-5 victory on Ancient.

The Counter-Strike 2 tournament features a $625,000 prize pool, with first place worth $200,000 and second place $93,750.

The group stage began Saturday featuring 16 teams in a Swiss system format. All matches are best-of-three and the top eight proceed to the playoffs that begin on Friday.

The playoffs will take place at Barys Arena in Astana, Kazakhstan, a single-elimination bracket with teams seeded by group stage rankings. All matches are best-of-three except for Sunday's grand final, which is a best-of-five.

Monday's action included four Round 3 Mid Matches, including sweeps by Virtus.pro over BIG and ODDIK over paiN Gaming. FURIA Esports defeated MIBR 2-1 and Aurora notched a 2-1 win over Ninjas in Pyjamas.

In Monday's Round 3 Low Matches, HOTU eliminated GamerLegion via sweep and G2 Esports ousted M80 with a 2-1 triumph.

Tuesday's Round 4 High Matches (2-1 teams):

--FURIA Esports vs. ODDIK

--Astralis vs. Virtus.pro

--Natus Vincere vs. Aurora

Tuesday's Round 4 Low Matches (1-2 teams):

--Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. HOTU

--BIG vs. G2 Esports

--MIBR vs. paiN Gaming

PGL Astana prize pool:

1. $200,000

2. $93,750