Natus Vincere pulled out a 2-1 win over Team Spirit on Wednesday and earned one of the last three playoff spots at the PGL Masters event in Bucharest, Romania.
On the final day of the group stage, teams that had 2-2 records met in showdowns that determined both advancement and elimination. In addition to Natus Vincere prevailing, Nemiga Gaming swept The MongolZ 2-0, and FURIA downed Team Liquid 2-0.
The $1.25 million Counter Strike 2 event began with 16 teams in a Swiss-system format. The eight teams that reached three wins before taking three losses advanced to a single-elimination playoff that runs Thursday through Saturday.
All matches are best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final on Saturday. The winning team will take home $450,000, with half going to the team and half to the players.
On Wednesday, Natus Vincere recorded a 13-2 win on Cache before Team Spirit equalized with a 13-10 decision on Dust II. The decisive third map, Anubis, went to Natus Vincere by a 13-3 count.
Kosovo’s Drin “makazze” Shaqiri led Natus Vincere with 57 kills and a plus-20 kill-death differential. Russia’s Boris “magixx” Vorobiev and Belarus’ Andrey “tN1R” Tatarinovich each notched 34 kills.
Nemiga Gaming pushed past The MongolZ 13-5 on Cache, then wrapped up the series with a 19-15 double-overtime win on Dust II.
Kazakhstan’s Daniel “syph0” Ageyev amassed 51 kills and a plus-20 K-D differential for Nemiga Gaming. Garidmagnai “bLitz” Byambasuren totaled 40 kills and a minus-1 K-D differential for the all-Mongolian MongolZ.
FURIA ousted Team Liquid 13-11 on Nuke, 13-5 on Inferno thanks to 41 kills and a plus-18 K-D differential from Latvia’s Mareks “YEKINDAR” Galinskis. Canada’s Keith “NAF” Markovic wound up with 36 kills and a plus-8 K-D differential for Team Liquid.
The Thursday quarterfinal schedule:
–BetBoom Team vs. FURIA
–MOUZ vs. Aurora Gaming
–Team Vitality vs. Natus Vincere
–Nemiga Gaming vs. FUT Esports
PGL Masters Bucharest group-stage standings (*-qualified for playoffs, x-eliminated)
*-T1. FUT Esports, 3-0
*-T1. BetBoom Team, 3-0
*-T3. Team Vitality, 3-1
*-T3. MOUZ, 3-1
*-T3. Aurora Gaming, 3-1
*-T6. Natus Vincere, 3-2
*-T6. Nemiga Gaming, 3-2
*-T6. FURIA, 3-2
x-T9. Team Liquid, 2-3
x-T9. Team Spirit, 2-3
x-T9. The MongolZ, 2-3
x-T12. TYLOO, 1-3
x-T12. Legacy, 1-3
x-T12. DENDELE CS, 1-3
x-T15. 9z Team, 0-3
x-T15. G2 Esports, 0-3
PGL Masters Bucharest prize pool with total prize money, player prize money and team share:
1. $450,000 ($225,000, $25,000)
2. $200,000 ($100,000, $100,000)
3. $137,500 ($68,750, $68,750)
4. $87,500 ($43,750, $43,750)
5-8. $50,000 ($25,000, $25,000)
9-11. $31,250 ($15,625, $15,625) — Team Liquid, Team Spirit, The MongolZ
12-14. $18,750 ($9,375, $9,375) — TYLOO, Legacy, DENDELE CS
15-16. $12,500 ($6,250, $6,250) — 9z Team, G2 Esports
–Field Level Media
