PGL Astana 2025 is kicking off on May 10, and four teams are worth following throughout the event.
These teams are G2, FURIA, Astralis, and Ninjas in Pajamas. Here’s why you should keep an eye on them during PGL Astana 2025.
G2
Credit: Esports World Cup 2024
PGL Astana 2025 will be G2’s first tournament without Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov, who joined Falcons in April following the IEM Melbourne 2025 grand finals. The organization signed the Polish sniper Olek “hades” Miśkiewicz on loan until the end of June.
While hades is a capable sniper, we’ll see if he can deliver that X-factor that m0NESY is known for. The Russian bailed G2 out of many difficult situations as he was often top-fragging and pulled unthinkable clutches out of his hat.
If hades doesn’t fully replace m0NESY, G2 will need their star riflers Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa and Nikita “HeavyGod” Martynenko to step up and make the difference.
Unfortunately, the coach Wiktor “TaZ” Wojtas will stand in for Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač . The Bosnian rifler will lose the first matches, at least, due to visa issues. So, we might not get to watch G2 on full force during the Kazakh tournament.
FURIA
Credit: Helena Kristiansson | ESL
FURIA are undoubtedly one of the teams to watch in PGL Astana 2025. The Brazilian organization has taken the international route after a string of bad results in 2025, and brought on the rookie Kakazh sniper Danil “molodoy” Golubenko and former Team Liquid entry fragger Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis to replace Marcelo “chelo” Cespedes and Felipe “skullz” Medeiros.
These roster changes caught the Brazilian community off guard, especially because FURIA brought molodoy while they still have the two-time CS:GO Major champion Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo on the lineup. For the first time in his career, FalleN will give up the AWP to another player and transition into an IGL rifler.
On top of that, FURIA had to switch the communication from Portuguese to English to accommodate molodoy and YEKINDAR. Only time will tell if this is the right move or if it will be an absolute disaster.
Only time will tell if this is the right move or if it will be an absolute disaster.
Astralis
Credit: Igor Bezborodov | © ESL
Even though FURIA and G2 have a tough road ahead of themselves, it’s nothing in comparison to Astralis’ hardships. The historic Danish organization failed to qualify for the Major for the fifth time in a row in April and is reportedly trying to sell the brand and players.
After Astralis crashed out of the European Major Regional Qualifier (MRQ), they benched Casper “cadiaN” Møller and signed Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen as a stand-in for PGL Astana 2025.
The former G2 IGL will step in at a time when the pressure for good results has never been so high, as a good performance in PGL Astana 2025 might convince investors to buy Astralis.
Whether you cheer for Astralis or will tune in just to hate-watch, you’re in for a treat.
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Credit: Joseph Lima | Fragadelphia
While all the CS2 teams above will be debuting new players at PGL Astana 2025, Ninjas in Pajamas will play their first big LAN tournament with the roster they built for 2025.
NIP made a huge overhaul coming to 2025, keeping only the Ukrainian AWPer Artem “r1nkle” Moroz. They brought the experienced Danish duo Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer and Rasmus “sjuush” Beck, and bet on the Portuguese talents Rafael “arrozdoce” Wing and Michel “ewjerkz” Magalhães.
This roster overhaul made NIP start practically from scratch in the Valve Regional Standings (VRS), and after months of grinding tier-two tournaments, they managed to qualify for PGL Astana 2025.
Even though NIP had some rough results in tier-two, playing on a big LAN might be what this new squad need to gain experience and gel together.