Two rounds of group stage action are in the books in PGL Astana and now, either Team Spirit or Astralis will advance to the playoffs with a perfect record.
Spirit was the favorite to win this tournament, so a strong start to the group stage is now surprise. Astralis, however, has arguably exceeded expectations. Though it has had workable matchups so far, it has still given fans cause to buy into its tweaked roster.
That said, does Astralis have any chance against Spirit? Here’s a full betting breakdown of this match.
Astralis vs paiN – HIGHLIGHTS – PGL Astana 2025 | CS2
Team Spirit and Astralis will play in what is playoffs decider for in PGL Astana’s group stage on May 12, 2025. The match will be a best-of-three. Both teams have a 2-0 record and the winner will earn a spot in the playoffs. The loser will continue on in the tournament, but needs to win one of its next two matches to advance.
Team Spirit has looked as strong as anyone would’ve expected in PGL Astana. The tournament favorites are off to a 2-0 start, taking a tough victory over GamerLegion while taking a fairly comfortable win over NiP. This has Spirit on the brink of a clean 3-0 run through the group stage.
The team’s roster remains unchanged:
Team Spirit is largely unstoppable on Dust 2 in 2025 and has a winning record everywhere else, with Ancient and Mirage being the closest thing Spirit has to a weak spot. The team refuses to play on Inferno, though.
Astralis entered PGL Astana fresh off a roster change, but has looked solid in the event thus far. New in-game leader Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen led the team to a hard-fought victory over ODDIK. While that was a bit worrying given how ODDIK should’ve been an easy out, the team followed that up with a convincing win over Pain Gaming.
Here is the new Astralis roster:
Astralis has been seriously struggling on Dust 2 and Mirage, going 3-8 and 6-11 on the maps in 2025, respectively. The team has remained relevant thanks to its generally solid performance on Inferno and Dust 2, where it has a 15-8 and 11-7 record, respectively.
Team Spirit and Astralis have faced off three times over the last year, with Spirit winning all three matches. The most recent came at IEM Katowice 2025, with Spirit winning that match in a 2-0 stomp where Astralis won just nine total rounds.
Astralis is an overwhelming underdog against Team Spirit, with the moneylines sitting at 1.07 against 7.88. This seems to be an extreme line, as Astralis is actually a bigger favorite against Astralis than it was in earlier matches against GamerLegion and Ninjas in Pyjamas. While GamerLegion is arguably better than Astralis right now, Ninjas in Pyjamas is a tier-three team these days.
Spirit vs NiP – HIGHLIGHTS – PGL Astana 2025 | CS2
Team Spirit should be able to score a convincing victory over Astralis. The betting lines on this match are a bit exaggerated and Astralis has looked good in PGL Astana so far, but there’s a reason for this display of faith in Team Spirit.
Think you know who will win? Place your bets here!
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