Aurora Gaming, G2 Esports and magic clinched the final three playoff spots on Wednesday at the $800,000 PGL Astana 2026 event in Kazakhstan.
All three Round 5 matches were decided with sweeps as Aurora eliminated The MongolZ, G2 knocked out Monte and magic ousted Gentle Mates to conclude the group stage of the 16-team Counter-Strike 2 tournament.
The single-elimination playoffs begin on Friday. All matches are best-of-three until Sunday’s best-of-five grand final, where the winning team will take home $256,000.
Aurora beat The MongolZ 13-11 on Overpass and 13-10 on Mirage, with Turkey’s Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dortkardes posting a team-high 37 kills.
G2 made swift work of Monte, winning 13-2 on Ancient and 13-4 on Dust II as Israel’s Guy “NertZ” Iluz and Nikita “HeavyGod” Martynenko each posted 33 kills.
Led by 26 kills from Russia’s Andrey “AW” Anisimov, magic posted a 13-5 win on Mirage and a 16-13 decision on Inferno against Gentle Mates.
Friday’s quarterfinal schedule:
–9z Team vs. magic
–Team Falcons vs. FURIA
–MOUZ vs. Aurora Gaming
–G2 Esports vs. Team Spirit
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 — The MongolZ, Monte, Gentle Mates
12-14. $12,000 — HEROIC, PARIVISION, The Huns Esports
15-16. $8,000 — K27, Fisher College
–Field Level Media
