PGL Bucharest 2025 is the second tournament from PGL this year, after the successful Cluj-Napoca event. It’s great to have PGL back as a staple of the Counter-Strike calendar, with great teams and big prize pools. There is a total of $1.25 million up for grabs in this event, making there lots to play for beyond just VRS points.
Like PGL Cluj-Napoca, a few of the top teams have elected to skip out on a trip to Bucharest, but that’s not to say there won’t be some excellent competition on display. Read on for our PGL Bucharest 2025 power rankings!
| PGL Bucharest 2025 Power Rankings | |
|---|---|
| Team Name | Power Ranking |
| The MongolZ | 1st |
| Eternal Fire | 2nd |
| FaZe Clan | 3rd |
| G2 | 4th |
| Falcons | 5th |
| Team Liquid | 6th |
| Virtus.pro | 7th |
| Astralis | 8th |
| 3DMAX | 9th |
| GamerLegion | 10th |
| FURIA | 11th |
| paiN Gaming | 12th |
| Complexity | 13th |
| Legacy | 14th |
| Apogee | 15th |
| Rare Atom | 16th |
FaZe Clan must win this one
It’s all getting a bit awkward for FaZe Clan. The addition of EliGE was supposed to make them a winning roster, but so far it seems to have pushed them further away from ever. I have to imagine they’ll get a grace period until at least after the BLAST Austin Major, but realistically, they need to start making deeper runs at events.
FaZe Clan should be aiming to win PGL Bucharest 2025. Given the fact that MOUZ, Spirit, and Vitality are all absent here, there’s absolutely no excuse for them not to be challenging. “Must-win” is a strong term, but FaZe Clan’s poor form throughout the year means that we’re kind of getting to that point with this one. One thing is for sure: they can’t afford to crash out.
The MongolZ and Eternal Fire favorites on paper
If you’re looking at the teams at the top of these power rankings, it’s hard to imagine any of them beating either Eternal Fire or The MongolZ. These two rosters are yet to win a Tier 1 trophy, but have proven themselves adept at making deep runs so far in 2025. We’ve seen these teams knocked out by the big boys, and they’re knocking on that door and inching closer every time they make a Playoffs run.
That’s why PGL Bucharest 2025 marks such an opportunity for both Eternal Fire and The MongolZ. I see both on a pretty even level, with similar strengths and weaknesses. They need to be looking at the teams around them and recognizing they’re not going to get such a free hit at a Tier 1 trophy this year.
Potential PGL Bucharest 2025 underdogs
The nature of the invited teams to PGL Bucharest 2025 means there’s no shortage of underdogs. Personally, I love rooting for an underdog, so this should make for perfect viewing for me. Let’s talk about a couple of them here.
First, there’s Apogee. Yes, they’re 15th in our power rankings, but I rate them very highly. They’ve had some great online results and have a top young talent in jcobbb. He’s one to watch on LAN. The rise of this Polish roster could also produce one particularly interesting gmatchup, should they line up against FaZe Clan. That’s because FaZe Clan’s IGL karrigan is married to Apogee sport psychologist Anna Suder!
I also want to highlight 3DMAX here. They recently beat Falcons and Eternal Fire at ESL Pro League Season 21, so they’ve got the ceiling to take down every team attending PGL Bucharest 2025. There’s just a lingering inconsistency within the team that stops them from being truly elite, but they should have enough to cause problems at this particular event. They’ve had some good news of late, with all of the players renewing their contracts with the organization. Let’s see if this can be a stepping stone to bigger and better things.
