PGL Bucharest 2025 Invited Teams Announced – NAVI, Spirit, Vitality, MOUZ Decide to Skip

PGL has unveiled the lineup for their second event of their 2025 circuit, PGL Bucharest. It’s crammed with heavyweights, at least compared to Cluj-Napoca. Some top teams are still sitting this one out, though. Vitality and Spirit have once again opted out, and iM will miss another home event. PGL Cluj-Napoca winners, MOUZ, have also interestingly decided to skip. One PGL trophy, and they’ve seemingly called it a day for now.

But dwelling on absences does little good, so let’s focus on what we do have. The direct invites are nothing short of star-studded. G2, Falcons, FaZe, and Liquid headline the invited lineup list, joined by the rising national powerhouses Eternal Fire and The MongolZ. Expanding the list further, we find FURIA, Astralis, Virtus.pro, GamerLegion, 3DMAX, and paiN, all teams with something to prove.

Here is a full list of teams taking part:

• FaZe
• The MongolZ
• G2
• Falcons
• Eternal Fire
• Astralis
• paiN
• Virtus.pro
• 3DMAX
• GamerLegion
• Liquid
• FURIA

Apart from these 12 teams, there will be four additional teams taking part. They will qualify via the following qualifiers – European Closed Qualifier, North American Closed Qualifier, South American Closed Qualifier, and MESA Asian Masters 2025 winner.

What’s at stake for the teams?

The tournament runs from April 5th to April 13th, meaning it won’t impact the MRQ invites, which lock in on April 7th before the event even reaches its climax. But with a $1.25 million prize pool and crucial Valve ranking points on the line, there’s still plenty to fight for.

For some teams, anything short of the trophy will be a bitter pill to swallow. FaZe, The MongolZ, and Falcons all desperately need a title, having come close but never quite sealing the deal. Second place? Third place? It is not going to be good enough for these teams. It’s either gold or bust. G2 and Eternal Fire would also enjoy the taste of victory, but it wouldn’t do them too much harm even if they don’t make it to the top. On the other hand, Astralis and Liquid will be super pleased with a deep playoffs run. 

Remaining teams will be hoping for atleast as deep a run they can get. With the event scheduled right before the MRQs, this will be a good opportunity to test waters against the best teams before the real grind begins.