Team Spirit and 9z Team became the first two squads to advance to the playoffs at the $800,000 PGL Astana 2026 following 2-1 victories Monday in Kazakhstan.
Spirit took down FURIA and 9z outlasted MOUZ in the Round 3 High Matches. That put Spirit and 9z at 3-0, the first two teams to get the three wins necessary to advance.
FURIA and MOUZ will get up to two more cracks at it, as they’ll appear in the Round 4 High Matches on Tuesday before Round 5 comes Wednesday.
The group stage runs through Wednesday, with all matches best-of-three in a Swiss System format and the top eight teams advancing to the playoffs. The single-elimination playoffs are best-of-three matches until the best-of-five grand finale on May 17, with the winner taking home $256,000.
On Monday, Spirit sandwiched a 13-8 win on Dust II and a 13-11 result on Mirage around a 16-12 overtime setback to FURIA on Overpass. Russia’s Danil “donk” Kryshkovets led all players with 71 kills for Spirit.
9z beat MOUZ 13-10 on Nuke, fell 13-4 on Inferno and rebounded to prevail 13-9 on Ancient. The South American club was led by Argentina’s Luciano “luchov” Herrera, who posted a match-high 49 kills.
In the Round 3 Mid Matches, all four fixtures ended in 2-0 sweeps. Gentle Mates blanked HEROIC, Aurora Gaming defeated PARIVISION, Team Falcons beat Monte and The MongolZ shut out G2 Esports. Those four winning teams moved on to the Round 4 High Matches.
The Round 3 Low Matches provided the first two eliminations of the tournament, as magic shut out K27 2-0 and The Huns Esports did the same to Fisher College.
The tournament continues Tuesday with six matches:
–MOUZ vs. Aurora Gaming (Round 4 High)
–The MongolZ vs. Team Falcons (Round 4 High)
–FURIA vs. Gentle Mates (Round 4 High)
–HEROIC vs. magic (Round 4 Low)
–Monte vs. The Huns Esports (Round 4 Low)
–PARIVISION vs. G2 Esports (Round 4 Low)
PGL Astana 2026 Group Stage standings:
T1. Team Spirit, 3-0
T1. 9z Team, 3-0
T3. MOUZ, 2-1
T3. FURIA, 2-1
T3. The MongolZ, 2-1
T3. Team Falcons, 2-1
T3. Aurora Gaming, 2-1
T3. Gentle Mates, 2-1
T9. HEROIC, 1-2
T9. PARIVISION, 1-2
T9. Monte, 1-2
T9. The Huns Esports, 1-2
T9. G2 Esports, 1-2
T9. magic, 1-2
T15. K27, 0-3
T15. Fisher College, 0-3
PGL Astana 2026 prize pool:
1. $256,000
2. $120,000
3. $96,000
4. $56,000
5-8. $40,000
9-11. $20,000
12-14. $12,000
15-16. $8,000 — K27, Fisher College
–Field Level Media
