Team Spirit is the champion of PGL Astana 2025, beating a rejuvenated Astralis side with a 3-1 scoreline. Despite heroics from Astralis, Team Spirit’s prowess became too much for the Danes to handle, who managed to put up tough competition but failed to push it over the line.
VETO
- Spirit removed Inferno
- Astralis removed Anubis
- Spirit picked Dust2
- Astralis picked Nuke
- Spirit picked Mirage
- Astralis picked Train
- Ancient was left over
Map 1: Dust 2; Pick: Spirit; Winner: Spirit
A blistering start for Spirit blew the Danish side out of the water, winning all of the rounds as Astralis managed on by the skin of their teeth. Winning a single round in the first half, the Danes had no hope for a comeback, and their future attempt to level the scoreline began with a 3-round streak, but Spirit did not waste any time and closed the game with a dominant scoreline of 13-5.
Map 2: Nuke; Pick: Astralis; Winner: Spirit
Having performed well earlier in the map, Astralis managed to go 4-0 up before Spirit saw their first round. Donk, firing on all cylinders, pulled his team back as they levelled the scoreline before switching sides. Astralis managed to edge out Spirit on the defence by the end but fell to two back-to-back 1v3s from Chopper and Donk, leading to an unbelievable choke from Astralis that otherwise could have led to the Danes levelling the series.
Map 3: Mirage; Pick: Spirit; Winner: Astralis
Starting strong, Spirit went 4-0 up before Astralis got back on the board. Both teams traded rounds for a while before the Danes managed to put together a few rounds to edge out a narrow lead of 7-5. Moving to the offense, Astralis managed to post a perfect offense to win the map 13-5. Despite the 18 kills from donk, it was stavn that managed to outshine the Russian sensation to take a map back for Astralis.
Map 4: Train; Pick: Astralis; Winner: Spirit
Astralis is getting off to a stellar offense, going 7-2 up after losing the pistol round. Spirit managed to pull in a few rounds before switching sides, giving them a platform to make a comeback. Powered by donk, Team Spirit managed to replicate Astralis’ first-half performance and take the game to overtime. In overtime, Spirit’s fast-paced offense did not let Astralis stand firm on the defence as they blew them away to win the game with a tight 16-13 scoreline.
HooXi’s arrival has transformed Astralis, and now they are a force to be reckoned with. Their performance in PGL Astana showcased that they are not to be taken lightly in the coming Major, as now they pose a good chance to make a deep run and take some big names down on the way if those teams are not careful enough.
As for Team Spirit, donk is the ultimate deciding factor, and over-reliance on him might see the team struggle in big events and top oppositions. While the likes of Falcons, Vitality skipping the event paved the way for Spirit to win in Astana, having donk hard carry them every time might see the struggle in the Major.