Team Spirit won the PGL Astana 2025 Counter-Strike 2 tournament with a 3-1 triumph over Astralis in the grand final at Barys Arena, Astana, Kazakhstan. The competition was held from May 10 to May 18, with 16 elite teams vying for a cut of the $1.25 million prize pool.
Fronting Team Spirit’s onslaught was 18-year-old Russian wonderkid Danil “donk” Kryshkovets. Donk played a superb tournament. His consistent brilliance was rewarded with the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, joining his ever-growing list of awards.
Astralis demonstrated resilience and strategic brilliance to make it to the finals. Their run enthralled fans, with all their playoff games being among the tournament’s top five most-watched games. To check out the full match coverage, click here.
The grand final match between Astralis and Team Spirit had a record peak viewership of 920,009, which became the highest esports event in viewership in Kazakhstan. This milestone also made it the most-watched non-Major event of PGL’s history and the highest-viewed PGL event in 2025 at that time.
PGL Astana 2025 not only testified to the competitive nature of Counter-Strike 2 but also to the increasing visibility of esports in Central Asia. As it successfully ran and broke viewership records, the tournament has become a new standard for future tournaments in the region.
