Team Falcons blanks G2 to win PGL Bucharest title

Field Level Media|published: Sun 13th April, 15:48 2025

YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year.

Team Falcons thrashed G2 Esports 3-0 to win the grand final at the PGL Bucharest 2025 event on Sunday in Romania.

Falcons, who squeaked into the grand final with 2-1 victories in the quarterfinals and semifinals, defeated G2 13-5 on Mirage, 13-7 on Nuke and 13-8 on Ancient. That earned the team a first prize of $200,000 out of the $625,000 prize pool.

Nikola "NiKo" Kovac of Bosnia and Herzegovina posted a team-high 49 kills on a plus-8 kills-to-deaths differential for Falcons, while Russia's Abdul "degster" Gasanov added 46 kills on a match-high plus-16 K-D.

Nikita "HeavyGod" Martynenko of Israel had 50 kills on a plus-14 to guide G2, which settled for $93,750 in second place.

Also Sunday, FaZe Clan swept Complexity 2-0 for third place, prevailing 13-10 on Dust II and 13-11 on Inferno. Slovakia's David "frozen" Cernansky paced FaZe with 43 kills on a plus-16.

The Counter-Strike 2 tournament began with 16 teams playing in a Swiss System Format in the group stage, from which eight advanced to the single-elimination playoffs. All matches were best-of-three before Sunday's best-of-five grand final.

PGL Bucharest 2025 prize pool:

1. $200,000 -- Team Falcons

2. $93,750 -- G2 Esports

3. $75,000 -- FaZe Clan

4. $43,750 -- Complexity

5-8. $31,250 -- Aurora Gaming, GamerLegion, 3DMAX, Virtus.pro

9-11. $15,625 -- Astralis, Apogee Esports, The MongolZ

12-14. $9,375 -- Rare Atom, FURIA, Legacy

15-16. $6,250 -- Team Liquid, paiN Gaming

--Field Level Media