Spirit are champions of PGL Astana 2025 after beating Astralis in a 3:1 series that could, and perhaps should, have gone to a fifth map decider. It marks their second trophy of the year, after kicking off 2025 with a statement win at BLAST Bounty Season 1. But what does this win say about Spirit, after they came into PGL Astana 2025 as major favorites amidst what felt like a much weakened slate of teams?
Spirit’s PGL Astana win tells us nothing about this team
Throughout 2025, Spirit’s main issue has been the fact that their placement in the Counter-Strike hierarchy has been utterly stagnant. They consistently lose to MOUZ, Falcons, and Vitality, while consistently beating every other team in the scene handily. This has been the reason they’ve been unable to compete for trophies beyond BLAST Bounty, never getting over the line against teams you’d perceive to be better than them.
Enter PGL Astana 2025. A tournament where none of MOUZ, Falcons, or Vitality are in attendance. An event that saw much-improved showings from teams like Astralis and FURIA, but certainly nothing you’d expect Spirit couldn’t handle even on their worst days. So yeah, Spirit got the trophy lift and a possible confidence boost, but that always felt like the bare minimum for PGL Astana.
Counter-Strike is at its best when we’re learning something new about teams. When players need to dig deep and find a new level they didn’t know existed previously, that’s when competitive Counter-Strike is most compelling. Spirit didn’t really need to exit first gear to lift the trophy in Astana, telling us absolutely nothing about the team and its current state. If anything, it reiterates their status as the “best of the rest.” It’s a bit of a downer, sure, but I can’t help but prefer the idea of seeing Spirit take on Vitality, MOUZ, and Falcons at IEM Dallas 2025 instead.
PGL Astana 2025 may not be enough to stop a post-Major change
While Spirit have avoided falling short of expectations at PGL Astana 2025, there’s still something not quite right in the team. There have long been calls for a post-Austin Major refresh for the Spirit lineup, and it’s not clear if that is the current plan. With kyousuke still rumored to be going to Falcons, one compelling option seems to be off the table.
If it is, then winning PGL Astana 2025 won’t move the needle on that decision. Losing in Kazakhstan may have solidified their choice, but winning won’t change anything if it’s decided that something must be tweaked to get back on top of the competitive Counter-Strike scene.
Spirit remain one of the most fascinating Counter-Strike teams in the world. In donk, they have all the firepower they could possibly want, a CS demigod capable of winning any round at a moment’s notice. But beyond that, the playbook wears thin against the elite. The upcoming BLAST.tv Austin Major is a chance to prove the critics wrong and show that PGL Astana 2025 was a win of quality, and not circumstance.
