The Easiest MVP for donk — PGL Astana 2025 Preview

From May 8 to 18, Kazakhstan will host a major Counter-Strike LAN tournament for the first time since 2019 — PGL Astana 2025. A stadium filled with fans, a $1.25 million prize pool, and the final opportunity for teams to find their form before the Austin Major. The lineup is stacked, and the absence of Vitality and Falcons makes things even more exciting: instead of two clear favorites, we now have six serious contenders.

For some, this tournament is a dress rehearsal. For others — a lifeline. But for donk and Team Spirit, it’s a chance to remind everyone who’s in charge.

Team Spirit: A Chill Tournament, NAVI: Between the Grave and a Glimmer of Hope, G2 Esports: A Beautiful Collapse, Virtus.pro: A New Chapter?, Who Else?

Team Spirit: A Chill Tournament

The Astana event is the last stop before the Major for Spirit, and right now, they’re the tournament's top favorite. The reason is simple: no Vitality, no problem. Danil "donk" Kryshkovets’s roster stumbled at the recent BLAST Rivals — losing to both Falcons and Vitality. But neither of those teams is coming to Kazakhstan, so the dynamics shift.

Spirit can treat this tournament like a warm-up — to sync up, play relaxed, and stay in the zone. Donk himself admitted he gets drained by too many matches, but also hates long breaks. This tournament is the perfect balance. Given the form of their opponents and donk’s current level, the MVP title looks like the easiest one in his career. Even if Spirit performs at 80%, it might be enough to win the trophy.

NAVI: Between the Grave and a Glimmer of Hope

The Perfect World Major in Shanghai revealed NAVI’s ceiling — 3rd–4th place. Not a failure, but far from expectations. The problems are still there: poor communication, inconsistent aim, an underwhelming w0nderful — all of it prevents the team from building solid gameplay. If PGL Astana doesn’t become a turning point, it might become the point of no return: a roster change seems inevitable, and B1ad3 isn’t hiding it.

But now is the time for NAVI to jump on the last train before Austin. They’ve got experience, a deep coaching staff, and support from BetBoom — analysts rank them third in terms of winning odds. Betting on NAVI is risky, but with 5.0 odds, it’s a tempting gamble.

G2 Esports: A Beautiful Collapse

Things look grim for G2. No m0NESY, no NiKo, no chances. The roster is falling apart, the coaching staff is in disarray, the in-game leader’s calls are questionable, and hades so far feels more like a temporary patch than a long-term solution.

Without its two stars, G2 risks turning into another team with a legacy but no future. MalbsMd isn’t yet capable of filling NiKo’s shoes, and the entire squad seems like a bunch of players who don’t belong in the top five. It’s no surprise that bookmakers give G2 10.0 odds to win — and even that might be generous.

Virtus.pro: A New Chapter?

With F_1N joining VP, the team gets a chance to reboot. The new coach isn’t just a blast from the past — he’s the very person who built the championship-winning Gambit roster during the online era. Now, he has electroNic, and if the chemistry clicks, this could mark the beginning of a new era.

But it’s still early. Right now, Virtus.pro is a test bench, a team searching for its identity. PGL Astana is a great stage to try out fresh ideas. And the home crowd might be just the boost they need to turn a close game around.

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Who Else?

The tournament will also feature The Mongolz, Gamer Legion, Aurora, FURIA, and other teams capable of surprising us. But compared to the main favorites, they’re more like dark horses. If you’re hunting for upsets, look in their direction.

If donk plays even at 70% of his peak level, Spirit will win the trophy before they even realize it. This is their tournament. No Vitality, no Falcons — but with donk. And that, apparently, is more than enough.