The PGL Astana 2025 Group Stage is at an end, with the final three teams securing their place in the Playoffs after today’s action. The two most notable names are NIP and Aurora, for very different reasons – read on to find out how the matches went down on the final day of the PGL Astana Groups.
NIP beat G2 to reach Playoffs in return to Tier 1
Credit: Sebastian Pandelache | PGL
It has been something of a fairytale run for Ninjas in Pyjamas at PGL Astana 2025. After battling their way back to Tier 1 Counter-Strike tournaments, they’ve only gone and managed to make the Playoffs at their first attempt, climbing to a lofty rank 24 in the Valve Regional Standings in the process. Their final obstacle here was G2, who were still playing with TaZ as a stand-in. Regardless of G2’s situation, it’s a big scalp for NIP to take, and a testament to their progress in recent months.
NIP aren’t in the PGL Astana Playoffs by accident, either. Dare I say, they even look quite good. Don’t be surprised to see the team go even deeper into this event, which almost seemed an impossible concept for Snappi and his roster just a few months ago. I’m excited to see how they play in front of the Astana crowd.
Aurora scrape to PGL Astana Playoffs against ODDIK
Credit: Sebastian Pandelache | PGL
Coming into PGL Astana 2025, Aurora will have fancied themselves as some of the tournament favorites. They’ve made it to the Playoffs as expected, but to do it in 3:2 fashion is far too close for comfort. They’ve not looked themselves of late, and will feel fortunate to have come up against an ODDIK side who haven’t done too much to impress throughout PGL Astana.
Regardless, you can only beat the teams in front of you, and Aurora have done just that to get the job done. Now, with the Playoffs berth secured, can they continue to progress and make an even deeper run at PGL Astana 2025? The next few days will be telling.
MIBR make tough work of Virtus.pro
Credit: Sebastian Pandelache | PGL
MIBR were the final team to lock down their spot in the PGL Astana 2025 Playoffs, but they made very tough work of Virtus.pro, needing all three maps to get the job done. The Brazilians showed impressive resilience to avoid Overtime on the final map, even when it looked to be going that way right at the death. It’s been a bit of a tough year for MIBR, but this is certainly one thing they can celebrate.
For Virtus.pro, this feels like a damning indictment of where this project is at right now. Making up the numbers at every event, it’s desperately clear that something is fundamentally not working on the lineup. They’ve got the BLAST.tv Austin Major just around the corner, but it doesn’t feel like something to be excited about for this team.
The full list of PGL Astana 2025 Playoff qualified teams is as follows:
- The MongolZ
- Team Spirit
- Astralis
- NAVI
- FURIA
- NIP
- Aurora
- MIBR