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PGL Astana 2025 - Tournament Preview & Guide

Tit Krajnik

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Last updated: 06 May 2025

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Tit Krajnik 06 May 2025

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PGL Astana 2025 is scheduled to begin on Saturday, May 10, 2025
16 Counter-Strike 2 teams fight for the lion's share of the $1,250,000 prize pool
With Vitality out of the picture, who will come out on top?

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Counter-Strike (Getty Images)

The Counter-Strike 2 esports season continues this Saturday, May 10, with the next S-Tier tournament, PGL Astana 2025.

When Does PGL Astana 2025 Start?
PGL Astana 2025 Format
PGL Astana 2025 Teams
What is the PGL Astana 2025 Prize Pool?
PGL Astana 2025 Betting Odds
Where to Watch PGL Astana 2025?
Where To Bet on PGL Astana 2025?

Set to kick off on Saturday, May 10, PGL Astana 2025 is the ninth S-Tier CS2 esports event of the season, succeeding BLAST Rivals Spring 2025, where Team Vitality won their fifth tournament of 2025.

The season's most dominant team, however, will not travel to Kazakhstan this month, which adds a sprinkle of excitement to the event as it opens up the road to the top for many of the world's top squads.

While the top betting sites have made it very clear which team is most likely to come out on top, that does not take away from the fact that PGL Astana 2025 is shaping up to be one of the more exciting events of the year and a tournament no esports fan should miss.

When Does PGL Astana 2025 Start?

PGL Astana 2025 is scheduled to start on Saturday, May 10, with the first round of the group stage.

The tournament will run until Sunday, May 18, when the top two teams will battle it out for the throne in a best-of-five grand final.

PGL Astana 2025 Format

PGL Astana 2025 will kick off with a 16-team Swiss-style format group, where all matches will be played as best-of-three (BO3).

The teams that win three games first will proceed to the playoffs, while those who lose three games will be eliminated and sent home.

Of 16 Counter-Strike 2 teams, only eight will advance to the playoffs, which are single-elimination with all games, except for the grand finals, played as best-of-three (BO3). The grand finals are best-of-five (BO5).

Group Stage

Swiss Style group
16 Counter-Strike 2 teams
All games are best-of-three (BO3)
Eight teams that win three games proceed to the playoffs
Eight teams that lose three games get eliminated

Playoffs

Eight Counter-Strike 2 teams
Single-elimination bracket
Best-of-five (BO5) grand final
All other games are best-of-three (BO3)

PGL Astana 2025 Teams

PGL Astana 2025 will feature 16 Counter-Strike 2 teams, of which 12 received direct invites based on their Valve Regional Standings (VRS) position, while four fought through regional qualifiers in Europe, North America, South America, and Asia.

The list of teams will have one notable absence in Team Vitality, who decided to skip the event after winning five of eight S-Tier tournaments this season.

Team Spirit
The MongolZ
Aurora Gaming
G2 Esports
Natus Vincere
Astralis
paiN Gaming
Virtus.pro
GamerLegion
FURIA
BIG
MIBR
Ninjas in Pyjamas – EU Qualifiers
M80 – NA Qualifiers
ODDIK – SA Qualifiers
HOTU – Asia Qualifiers

What is the PGL Astana 2025 Prize Pool?

PGL Astana 2025 will offer a $1,250,000 prize pool spread among all 16 participants.

Champions - $400,000
Runners-up - $187,500
3rd-place - $150,000
4th-place - $87,500
5th-8th-place - $62,500
9th-11th-place - $31,250
12th-14th-place - $18,750
15th-16th-place - $12,500

PGL Astana 2025 Betting Odds

PGL Astana 2025 betting odds are available on all of the top betting sites, where esports fans can find both market and outright markets.

Team	Odds
Team Spirit	2.25
The MongolZ	4.00
Natus Vincere	5.50
Aurora Gaming	5.50
G2 Esports	11.00
GamerLegion	14.00
Virtus.pro	21.00
Astralis	26.00
FURIA	41.00
paiN Gaming	51.00
MIBR	51.00
Ninjas in Pyjamas	76.00
M80	101.00
BIG	101.00
ODDIK	251.00
HOTU	501.00

According to the latest offer, Team Spirit (2.25) are the main favourites to win PGL Astana 2025, ahead of The MongolZ (4.00), Natus Vincere (5.50), and Aurora Gaming (5.50), which rounds up the list of squads priced at single digits.

Team Spirit have won just one big event this season; however, they've not lost their tag of one of the strongest teams in the world, having placed top four in all five tournaments attended in 2025.

In three of those five events, they got knocked out by Team Vitality, which includes the loss in the IEM Katowice 2025 grand finals. And with Vitality's absence at PGL Astana 2025, Team Spirit's road to the top looks far easier.

Sitting behind the leading favourites are G2 Esports (11.00), who caught the tag of underdogs, following the departure of their star AWPer m0NESY.

This came following the departure of their other star player NiKo, which completely changed the G2 lineup, which does not look as scary as it once did.

Another team which will enter PGL Astana 2025 with a different lineup is Astralis (26.00), who have recently replaced their in-game leader in hopes of finding more traction and starting to win trophies.

However, much like G2, Astralis have not done well this season and seem to lack the raw quality to compete for top spots.

The rest of the teams attending PGL Astana 2025 are a mix of squads who are either not good enough to compete for top spots, are in bad shape, or have made roster changes which put a huge question mark above them and their chances to claim the trophy.

Where to Watch PGL Astana 2025?

PGL Astana 2025 live streams are available through the official PGL channels on live streaming platforms, including Kick, Twitch, and YouTube. Esports fans can also tune in to watch PGL Astana 2025 matches through live streaming services offered by the best betting sites.

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Follow the action and place in-play PGL Astana 2025 bets

Where To Bet on PGL Astana 2025?

PGL Astana 2025 is one of the biggest Counter-Strike 2 tournaments of the season and one of the most prestigious events of the month. Not only will PGL Astana 2025 draw in thousands of viewers, but it is also shaping up to be one of the most significant events in the online betting community.

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Esports punters can find PGL Astana 2025 markets on all of the best betting sites, including some of the more prominent crypto bookmakers, such as Stake.

On Stake, you can expect to find a generous offer of PGL Astana 2025 betting markets, competitive betting odds and a plethora of promotions, including a welcome bonus with Stake promo code NEWBONUS.

Verdict

PGL Astana 2025

With Team Vitality out of the picture, PGL Astana 2025 is the perfect opportunity for Team Spirit to rise to the top.

They've been living in Vitality's shadow this season, but have not really struggled against any other team but the Bees and MOUZ – neither of whom will stand in their way in Kazakhstan.

While the absence of their two main rivals does not guarantee Spirit's success, they are the scariest squad attending PGL Astana 2025, who have been dormant for too long.