Strong starts for Natus Vincere, Team Spirit, paiN Gaming at PGL Astana

Natus Vincere, Team Spirit and paiN Gaming swept their opposition on Saturday, the first day of the PGL Astana 2025 group stage.

Other winners were BIG, Astralis, The MongolZ, MIBR and Ninjas in Pyjamas.

PGL Astana 2025, which runs through May 18, has a $625,000 prize pool, with first place worth $200,000 and second place $93,750.

The group stage runs Saturday through Wednesday and features 16 teams in a Swiss system format. All matches are best-of-three and the top eight proceed to the playoffs on May 16-18.

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

BIG rallied past Aurora Gaming 2-1 after losing 13-11 on Mirage and responding by the same score on Inferno and then winning 13-8 on Dust II.

Astralis beat ODDIK 2-1, winning 13-9 on Dust II, falling 13-2 on Ancient and triumphing 13-7 on Inferno.

The MongolZ followed the same pattern in a 2-1 win over FURIA, winning 13-4 on Mirage, losing 13-7 on Anubis, then winning 13-9 on Inferno.

MIBR outbattled G2 Esports 2-1, winning on Anubis (13-7), losing on Ancient (13-8) and emerging 13-11 on Nuke.

Natus Vincere dominated M80, winning 13-4 on Dust II and 13-7 on Mirage.

Ninjas in Pyjamas won 2-1 over Virtus.pro, winning 13-6 on Train, falling 13-11 on Dust II and winning 13-9 on Ancient.

Team Spirit had a tight match with GamerLegion but swept 13-11 on Mirage and the same score on Nuke.

PaiN Gaming had less of an issue in sweeping HOTU, winning 13-8 on Mirage and 13-4 on Nuke.

Round 2 high matches scheduled for Sunday:

--The MongolZ vs. MIBR

--Astralis vs. paiN Gaming

--Natus Vincere vs. BIG

--Team Spirit vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas

Round 2 low matches scheduled for Sunday:

--Virtus.pro vs. M80

--GamerLegion vs. FURIA

--Aurora Gaming vs. HOTU

--G2 Esports vs. ODDIK

--Field Level Media