{"id":25404,"date":"2025-05-07T16:20:59","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T16:20:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/?p=25404"},"modified":"2025-05-07T21:25:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T21:25:24","slug":"pgl-astana-2025-overview-format-teams-schedule-favorites-and-underdogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/news\/cs-2\/pgl-astana-2025-overview-format-teams-schedule-favorites-and-underdogs\/","title":{"rendered":"PGL Astana 2025 Overview: Format, Teams, Schedule, Favorites and Underdogs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>PGL Astana 2025 <\/strong>is an S-tier event held from<strong> May 10<\/strong> to <strong>May 18<\/strong> in <strong>Astana<\/strong>, <strong>Kazakhstan<\/strong>. Sixteen teams will compete for a prize pool of <strong>$1,250,000<\/strong>. Among the participants are <strong>Natus Vincere<\/strong>, <strong>Spirit<\/strong>, <strong>G2, <\/strong>and other top teams. <strong>Vitality is <\/strong>not participating in this event, which gives other teams a chance to lift a trophy and boost their confidence.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/xplay.gg\/pickem?utm_source=blixgg&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=pickem_predictions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Xplay&#8217;s CS2 Pick&#8217;em<\/strong><\/a>, make <strong>predictions for CS2 matches<\/strong> to get <strong>Free rewards<\/strong>. Accurate predictions earn points, in-game currency, and skins &#8211; from AWPs to Knives and Gloves. You can participate for <strong>Free <\/strong>or in <strong>Premium Mode <\/strong>with even more bonuses and a chance to get into the <strong>Top 100<\/strong>, where real prizes are awarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tournament Format<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Group Stage (May 10 &#8211; May 14)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>16 Team Swiss System Format<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>All matches are Bo3<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Top 8 teams proceed to Playoffs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Playoff Stage (May 16 &#8211; May 18)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Single-Elimination bracket<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>All matches (excl. Grand Final) are Bo3<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Grand Final is Bo5<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Teams<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastateams-1024x576.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-25407\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastateams-1024x576.webp 1024w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastateams-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastateams-768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastateams-1536x864.webp 1536w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastateams-150x84.webp 150w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastateams-450x253.webp 450w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastateams-1200x675.webp 1200w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastateams.webp 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">PGL Astana 2025 &#8211; Invited Teams<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Spirit<\/td><td>Natus Vincere<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>G2<\/td><td>Aurora<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>TheMongolZ<\/td><td>Virtus.pro<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>GamerLegion<\/td><td>Astralis<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>paiN<\/td><td>M80<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>BIG<\/td><td>FURIA<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>MIBR<\/td><td>Ninjas in Pyjamas<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>ODDIK<\/td><td>HOTU<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">PGL Astana 2025 &#8211; Teams<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Favorites and Underdogs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since <strong>Vitality <\/strong>decided not to play this tournament, the rest of the teams behind them will become the favorites to win it. <strong>Spirit<\/strong>, <strong>Natus Vincere<\/strong>, <strong>and G2 will be the favorites<\/strong> to make it as far as possible. All three of them need this one to regain their confidence, as they\u2019ve struggled slightly lately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are also enough teams that can take anyone down from the favorites. One of them will be <strong>Aurora<\/strong>, a Turkish squad that has had a lot of good results before. They had a good game against elite-level teams and had some success in making it to the Grand Finals.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>VP<\/strong>, <strong>TheMongolZ<\/strong>, <strong>Astralis<\/strong>, <strong>GamerLegion <\/strong>&#8211; these four teams are yet to show if they\u2019re capable of being consistent against elite-level teams, but on a good day, they should be able to take down anyone as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The underdogs and dark horses are the rest of the teams here: <strong>paiN, FURIA, BIG, MIBR, Ninjas in Pyjamas, M80, ODDIK, <\/strong>and <strong>HOTU<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Opening Matches Schedule<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastreama-2-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-25410\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastreama-2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastreama-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastreama-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastreama-2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastreama-2-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastreama-2-450x253.jpg 450w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastreama-2-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastreama-2.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastreamb-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-25411\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastreamb-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastreamb-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastreamb-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastreamb-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastreamb-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastreamb-450x253.jpg 450w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastreamb-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pglastreamb.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">May 10<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Aurora <\/strong>vs. <strong>BIG <\/strong>and <strong>Astralis <\/strong>vs. <strong>ODDIK <\/strong>starting at <strong>07:00 CET<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>TheMongolZ <\/strong>vs. <strong>FURIA <\/strong>and <strong>G2 <\/strong>vs. <strong>MIBR <\/strong>starting at <strong>10:00 CET<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Natus Vincere <\/strong>vs. <strong>M80 <\/strong>and <strong>VP <\/strong>vs. <strong>NiP <\/strong>starting at <strong>13:00 CET<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Spirit <\/strong>vs. <strong>GamerLegion <\/strong>and <strong>paiN <\/strong>vs. <strong>HOTU <\/strong>starting at <strong>16:00 CET<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Watch<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>PGL Astana 2025 <\/strong>will be streamed live for viewers worldwide. You can enjoy every thrilling moment at home, work, or on the go.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There will be official <strong>Twitch, YouTube, <\/strong>and<strong> K1CK <\/strong>streams:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.twitch.tv\/pgl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PGL Bucharest 2025 Official Primary Twitch Stream<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/PGL\/streams\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PGL Bucharest 2025 Official YouTube Stream<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/kick.com\/PGL\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PGL Bucharest 2025 Official Primary K1CK Stream<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.twitch.tv\/pgl_cs2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PGL Bucharest 2025 Official Secondary Twitch Stream<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/kick.com\/PGLCS2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PGL Bucharest 2025 Official Secondary K1CK Stream<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Keep up with our coverage for more insights on the latest esports news and updates.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PGL Astana 2025 is an S-tier event held from May 10 to May 18 in Astana, Kazakhstan. Sixteen teams will compete for a prize pool of $1,250,000. Among the participants are Natus Vincere, Spirit, G2, and other top teams. Vitality is not participating in this event, which gives other teams a chance to lift a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":25405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1],"tags":[5,11,247,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-25404","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cs-2","8":"category-news","9":"tag-cs2","10":"tag-cs2-news","11":"tag-cs2-tournaments","12":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25404"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25419,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25404\/revisions\/25419"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}