All PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 Playoffs Teams, Ranked

The PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 Group Stage has concluded, with eight teams locking down their spots in the upcoming Playoffs. The tournament is taking a break for a few days, giving the teams a chance to recuperate and prepare for their next appearance on the stage.

I’m taking a look at the eight teams that qualified for the PGL Cluj-Napoca Playoffs, and ranking them based on how likely they are to win the tournament. Let’s get into it!

8. SAW

SAW are a dead team, and it’s a sheer miracle they managed to reach the PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 Playoffs. Before the event began, the team announced that Shr and roman are to be benched, with this as their final event. Even still, they managed to sneak into the Playoffs at the final opportunity. They face FaZe up first, where it’s pretty safe to say their journey in Romania will come to an end.

7. Astralis

Fighting back from the 1:2 bracket to reach the PGL Cluj-Napoca Playoffs, Astralis earned their spot on stage. They didn’t look great, though, and were pretty lucky to stave off elimination against MIBR earlier in the CS2 tournament. Their Quarter-Final draw is unfortunately The MongolZ, who should have too far much firepower to offer for this inconsistent Astralis lineup.

6. paiN Gaming

I’ve got to say that paiN Gaming are a strange entity. Full of potential and consistently able to beat teams worse than them, but they always struggle against the very best. I really like the dav1deus addition, and think he’s great in flashes. That said, I don’t fancy them in what will be a tough draw against MOUZ in the opener. Get past them, and the conversation starts to change at PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025.

5. Eternal Fire

Eternal Fire have looked largely comfortable at PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025, but their qualifying match against 3DMAX did raise some alarm bells. They scraped past the French team, setting up a match against Falcons. It’s probably not the draw they wanted, but one that is perfectly winnable in the right circumstances. Eternal Fire aren’t my favorites to win the event, but I can’t in good faith count them out, either.

4. Falcons

Falcons have progressively improved throughout PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025. The team has seen a noticeable uptick in form from AWPer degster, which is going to be a necessity if they’re going to win the event. If they can breeze past Eternal Fire, then they’ll definitely fancy themselves as potential winners.

3. MOUZ

After MOUZ barely scraped into the PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 Playoffs at the last opportunity, I don’t think most are looking at them as big contenders. I disagree, thanks largely to the bracket. It’s paiN Gaming up first, then the winner of The MongolZ vs. Astralis. All of these teams are beatable for MOUZ, making a minimum Grand Final run well within the realm of possibility. Winning said Grand Final may be a step too far for MOUZ, but is it so wrong to dream big?

2. The MongolZ

Now with The MongolZ, we’re down to the real contenders at PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025. This is a team that has been desperate to win a Tier 1 LAN, even making a Semi-Final run at IEM Katowice 2025. Given the lower level of competition at PGL Cluj-Napoca, they won’t get a better chance than this for a while. It’s a chance they must grasp with both hands.

1. FaZe Clan

I’ll be very surprised if FaZe Clan doesn’t win this event. Even if their start to life with EliGE hasn’t been perfect, FaZe are, on paper, the best team at PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025. They coasted to the Playoffs, beating SAW, Eternal Fire, and MOUZ along the way. Now, in the Quarter-Finals, they face a SAW rematch, opening up an easy route to the Semi-Finals. It’s difficult to make the argument that they’re not big favorites.

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