The PGL Astana playoffs bracket is now set and two of the tournament favorites are facing off with The MongolZ and Aurora Gaming going head to head.
While these two teams are ranked similarly, they’ve had very different journeys through PGL Astana. That has them facing off early in the playoffs when it long felt like this match was more likely to be in the finals. So who is going to advance to the final four, and who is headed home?
WINNER TO PLAYOFFS! ODDIK vs Aurora – HIGHLIGHTS – PGL Astana 2025 | CS2
The PGL Astana playoffs will kick off with a matchup between The MongolZ and Aurora Gaming on May 15, 2025. The match is a best-of-three series. The PGL Astana playoffs are a single-elimination affair, meaning the loser of the match is out of the tournament.
The MongolZ enjoyed a short trip through the PGL Astana group stage. The team sprinted to a 3-0 record by beating Furia, MIBR, and NaVi, only enduring one map loss to Furia along the way. Given how The MongolZ was one of the favorites to win PGL Astana, the team has looked about as good as could be expected.
The full roster of The MongolZ made the trip for PGL Astana:
The MongolZ has a slightly losing record on Nuke and Anubis, but isn’t particularly bad anywhere. The team has generally been at its best on Inferno and MIrage. Train has been the team’s permanent ban since the map returned to the rotation.
Though Aurora Gaming was one of the teams considered as a favorite to win the tournament, the squad had a tough group stage run. After an upset loss at the hands of BIG, the team defeated HOTU and Ninjas in Pyjamas to advance towards the playoffs. A loss to NaVi pushed them to the brink of elimination, but they sealed the deal by beating ODDIK.
Aurora Gaming acquired the Turkish roster of Eternal Fire in April:
Anubis and Nuke are the bread and butter of this team, though they don’t have a particularly strong or weak record on other maps. It also bans Ancient.
Dating back to July 2024, The MongolZ played against the current Aurora Gaming roster five times while they were sponsored by Eternal Fire. The MongolZ won four of those matches. They last came together during IEM Katowice, which The MongolZ won 2-0.
The MongolZ is the betting favorite for this match, with the moneyline set at 1.65. Aurora Gaming is a 2.19 underdog. Though The MongolZ has historically gotten the better of this rivalry, the betting sites aren’t giving them too much of an advantage here.
WINNER TO PLAYOFFS! TheMongolz vs NAVI – HIGHLIGHTS – PGL Astana 2025 | CS2
The MongolZ should be able to win this match. Aurora Gaming is good and is ranked higher than The MongolZ in some cases, but the head-to-head history favors the Mongolians and the team has looked stronger at this event.
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