PGL Astana 2025: Astralis, Spirit set for blockbuster grand final

Following impressive victories in the semifinals, Team Spirit and Astralis will meet in the grand final of PGL Astana. Read on to find out all the key details.

eSports Betting News

by Ciaran Jackman

May 17, 2025 0

Astralis are back in a Big Event grand final — a phrase many fans feared they wouldn’t hear again. Not since their peak era in late 2019, when they lifted the BLAST Pro Series Global Final trophy, have the Danes reached a LAN final of this calibre. That all changes tomorrow at PGL Astana 2025, where Astralis will face the mighty Team Spirit in a best-of-five decider.

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Astralis comeback to defeat Aurora

This run marks the first time Astralis have made it to such a stage since signing Rasmus “⁠HooXi⁠” Nielsen, and the impact has been immediate. After dispatching Natus Vincere in dominant fashion, Astralis came from behind to defeat Aurora 2-1 in the semifinal of the Counter-Strike 2 event.

Following a close 11-13 loss on Mirage, Astralis started slowly on Nuke as they switched halves at a scoreline of 4-8. However, the Danes rallied behind a flawless counter-terrorist side, led by Martin “⁠stavn⁠” Lund’s 16 kills and 186 ADR, to complete the comeback. Nicolai “⁠device⁠” Reedtz then took over on Train — a map Astralis hadn’t played with HooXi before — posting a monstrous 2.13 rating after an ace in the pistol round set the tone.

Aurora’s decision to force the decider onto Train instead of their preferred Inferno backfired badly. Despite hoping to catch Astralis unprepared, the Turks fell flat with just three terrorist-side rounds and a seventh consecutive loss on the map.

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Spirit bounce back from first map loss

Team Spirit, meanwhile, were pushed to their limits by a resurgent FURIA Esports. The Brazilians, led by Mareks “⁠YEKINDAR⁠” Gaļinskis and Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato, snapped Spirit’s undefeated streak on Train with a 13-7 victory to start the series, which only seemed to ignite Spirit’s fire.

On Nuke, Danil “⁠donk⁠” Kryshkovets shook off his slow start and returned to his dominant form, while Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov and Myroslav “zont1x” Plakhotia played critical roles in regaining control. Spirit sealed the map 13-9 before cruising through Mirage 13-7, with donk once again at the forefront and zont1x delivering a clutch 1v2 to close it out.

Though Spirit were heavily favoured to lift the trophy with top esports betting sites, their path to the final was anything but smooth. FURIA exposed cracks early, but Spirit’s resilience and individual firepower ultimately saw them through.

Now, all eyes turn to Sunday. Astralis, rejuvenated under HooXi, will look to complete a fairytale run and claim their first Big Event title in over five years. But to do so, they must overcome a Spirit side stacked with firepower and hungry for silverware.