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Following the conclusion of the third day of play at PGL Bucharest, Team Liquid and paiN Gaming have been eliminated after losing their third straight series.
Meanwhile, 3DMAX and G2 Esports advanced to the playoffs with an unblemished record and will enjoy three days off before the quarterfinals get underway on Friday.
The surprises keep coming at PGL Bucharest as the Polish Counter-Strike 2 squad, Apogee, stunned Astralis 2-0 to move within touching distance of a playoff berth.
Wins on Mirage (13-8) and Ancient (13-9) have put the Poles in the 2-1 bracket, bouncing back from an opening loss to FURIA Esports with consecutive upsets over The MongolZ and now Astralis.
Mirage, Apogee’s map pick, saw them race to a dominant 12-3 lead behind a suffocating counter-terrorist side.
Astralis, sluggish from the outset, rallied on the terrorist side to close the gap but could only manage eight rounds before Apogee closed it out.
It got even worse on Ancient, where Astralis took eight rounds to get on the board and finished the first half down 3-9.
Losing the second pistol sealed their fate.
With Milan “hypex” Polowiec (1.15 rating) and breakout youngster Jakub “jcobbb” Pietruszewski (1.14) leading the charge, Apogee are now a single series win away from the playoffs in what has become one of the tournament’s most unexpected storylines.
For Astralis, the loss leaves them at 1-2 and facing elimination in yet another group stage.
Despite a defiant outlook earlier in the week from Nicolai “device” Reedtz, who said the 1-1 record was “probably still fine,” their performance against Apogee suggests otherwise.
@G2CSGO TO THE PLAYOFFS
After a tough 2-1 battle against @ComplexityCS, G2 became the first team to qualify with a 3W-0L record
#PGLBucharest pic.twitter.com/PMlLyTNRnU
— PGL (@pglesports) April 8, 2025
G2 Esports punched their ticket to the playoffs with a 2-1 victory over Complexity, winning Dust2 (16-12) and Ancient (13-10) on either side of a loss on Anubis (10-13).
The win completes a perfect group stage for G2, who previously toppled GamerLegion and Rare Atom.
Nikita “HeavyGod” Martynenko spearheaded a 10-2 terrorist-side on Dust2, but G2 nearly let it slip as Complexity forced overtime.
That’s when Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov took over, locking in the win with a flawless counter-terrorist OT.
Complexity hit back on Anubis, with Michael “Grim” Wince leading his team to a confident map victory.
But G2 recovered on Ancient, shaking off a 0-5 start to rattle off 12 rounds in a row and put the series to bed.
Despite m0NESY’s impending move to Falcons after the event, G2 are looking sharper than they have in months.
The Russian AWPer is currently the tournament’s top-rated player, with HeavyGod also exceeding expectations.
With Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač and Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa chipping in with impact maps, G2 are shaping up as legitimate contenders in Bucharest.
In the 0-2 elimination pool, Team Falcons kept their campaign alive by knocking out paiN Gaming with a 2-1 (6-13, 13-8, 13-9) comeback win.
PaiN took the opener on Nuke, punishing a wasteful showing from Falcons, but couldn’t maintain their level on Train or Inferno.
Nikola “NiKo” Kovač was at the heart of Falcons’ revival, dropping 1.41 and 1.95 ratings on the second and third maps.
René “TeSeS” Madsen also delivered when it counted, producing a 2.00-rated terrorist half on Inferno to lock out the decider and send paiN home.
It was a disappointing end for the Brazilians, who arrived in Romania with academy player Iago “deemO” Henrique on trial and gave a good account of themselves in tough matchups against Aurora Gaming and FaZe Clan.
However, the loss to Falcons ends their Bucharest journey at 0-3.
Team Liquid’s miserable debut with new in-game leader Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek ended without a single map win, bowing out 0-3 after a 0-2 defeat to The MongolZ.
Limited practice time was a factor, as siuhy was announced just two days before the event, but the issues ran deeper as Liquid looked disjointed throughout the tournament.
Losses to Legacy and Virtus.pro preceded their final match, which started with a close Mirage loss (13-11) before The MongolZ closed it out on Anubis.
Key mistakes, a lack of cohesion, and a struggling Keith “NAF” Markovic (0.69 rating) sealed Liquid’s fate in one of their worst showings to date.
For The MongolZ, the win was much-needed after back-to-back losses to 3DMAX and Apogee had pushed them into the 0-2 pool.
Garidmagnai “bLitz” Byambasuren’s side showed more of their usual sharpness, with Munkhbold “Senzu” Azbayar and Ayush “mzinho” Batbold starring in the final map.
@3DMAXGaming TO THE PLAYOFFS
Another massive win from the French squad — they take down @AuroraCS2_GG and lock in their spot at 3W-0L
Aurora fell to 2W-1L and will fight again tomorrow
#PGLBucharest pic.twitter.com/HT9CuwmI9u
— PGL (@pglesports) April 8, 2025
The Frenchmen of 3DMAX continue to impress, capping off a 3-0 group stage with a hard-fought win over Aurora Gaming.
They opened with a strong Inferno (13-9), got blown out on Anubis (5-13), and clinched Dust2 in overtime (16-14) thanks to heroics from Bryan “Maka” Canda and Filip “Graviti” Brankovic.
Since adding veteran rifler Alexandre “bodyy” Pianaro, 3DMAX have started to gel, beating two pre-tournament favourites in The MongolZ and Aurora to earn a playoff spot.
Bodyy has brought more firepower and experience, and their run in Bucharest is proving they’re more than just a fringe team.
Other winners on Monday included FaZe Clan and Virtus.pro, who improved their records to 2-1 after 2-0 wins over Rare Atom and FURIA Esports, respectively.
Tuesday’s PGL Bucharest matches
- Astralis (-227.27) vs Legacy (+162) @ 10am EEST
- GamerLegion (+110) vs Virtus.pro (-151.52) @ 10am EEST
- Complexity (+150) vs FaZe Clan (-200) @ 1pm EEST
- Rare Atom (+200) vs Team Falcons (-277.78) @ 1pm EEST
- Aurora Gaming (-400) vs Apogee (+275) @ 4pm EEST
- FURIA Esports (+200) vs The MongolZ (-277.78) @ 4pm EEST
