Aurora, Legacy and GamerLegion take final PGL Masters Bucharest 2025 Playoff berths

The Group Stage of PGL Masters Bucharest 2025 has come to a close, with Aurora, Legacy, and GamerLegion locking in the final three slots in the Playoffs. There has been no shortage of Counter-Strike action, and 16 teams have quickly been whittled down to eight in Bucharest. Here’s how those three teams joined the five already qualified for the PGL Masters Bucharest Playoffs!

Aurora beat Astralis sans dev1ce, but embarrass themselves in the process

With ruggah playing in place of dev1ce due to food poisoning, it felt as though Aurora had been given a free hit vs. Astralis. But what should have been an easy win edged on the verge of disaster for the Turkish team, as Astralis picked up an early map win with the coach stand-in. From here on out, it felt like the series had the potential to turn very sour for Aurora, especially given their recent form.

Despite a brave face from Astralis on maps two and three, Aurora were eventually able to turn things around, not least due to a XANTARES and woxic masterclass on map three. But despite their eventual win, there’s very little for Aurora to be pleased about here. Losing a map to a coach is embarrassing enough, and that Astralis were even in with a chance on subsequent maps should concern them further.

So it’s Playoffs for Aurora, and a flight home for Astralis. Yet, I come out of this series with a higher opinion of the Danes, and the opposite of the Turkish team. Still, as favorites, you’d probably have to fancy Aurora to go and win PGL Masters Bucharest 2025, even if reality is often not so simple as it appears on paper.

Legacy destroy FlyQuest dream

CS Asia Championship winners Legacy have locked in yet another Playoffs appearance at PGL Masters Bucharest 2025, after beating the boys from down under, FlyQuest, in what was a comfortable 2:0 series. The Brazilians looked in control throughout, exactly what you’d expect from a team that seems to be in the ascendancy right now.

It was the trio of latto, lux, and saadzin who provided the goods for Legacy, mustering 110 kills between them across two maps. Meanwhile, on the other side, it was just another reminder of FlyQuest’s ceiling and limitations. Still, going out 2:3 makes a nice change for the Aussies, who must be used to being dumped from events 0:3 at this point.

For me, Legacy now stand as somewhat dark horses to pick up a second trophy of 2025. You can already call this year a success, but the potential for more is massive.

GamerLegion halt Gentle Mates momentum after PR masterclass

GamerLegion looked convincing in their 2:2 match vs. the Spaniards of Gentle Mates, a 2:0 series that always looked like it had one winner. Although GamerLegion have struggled to find their feet of late, they were still far beyond anything Gentle Mates had to offer on Train or Inferno.

The star here was PR, who dropped a staggering 1.93 rating on Gentle Mates. The rest of GamerLegion played their part, of course, but had PR not popped off in such a manner, we would have enjoyed a much more competitive series here.

For GamerLegion, this is a much-needed Playoffs berth. They’re a team that needs to find confidence from somewhere, and if they can keep the momentum rolling at PGL Masters Bucharest 2025, they’ll be in good shape heading to the StarLadder Budapest Major next month.

With the conclusion of the Group Stage, every team heading to the PGL Masters Bucharest 2025 Playoffs are as follows:

• HEROIC
• paiN Gaming
• Liquid
• B8
• SAW
• Legacy
• GamerLegion
• Aurora