Five reasons to watch the PGL Major grand final

After two weeks of action in Antwerp, here we are on the afternoon of championship Sunday eagerly awaiting the PGL Major grand final between FaZe and Natus Vincere, and we're excited to find out who will win CS:GO's biggest trophy.

Here's why you should get excited, too:

It's a dream final matchup with no clear favorite

This could be one of the most widely anticipated matchups in a Major grand final ever. Rarely does it happen that expectations match reality, but that is how it has turned out in Antwerp, with the current world #1 and #2 set for a final showdown in the title decider. The last time that happened was in London in 2018 when Astralis and Natus Vincere fought for the top step of the podium, but even then you could see that NAVI weren't up to par with their Danish counterparts and the favorite was clear to most.

This time, there doesn't seem to be an obvious favorite. FaZe have the momentum behind them after winning consecutive titles at IEM Katowice and ESL Pro League, and they have been the most talked-about lineup this year for good reason, but it is impossible to ignore NAVI's form in Belgium after seeing them take to the stage over the past couple of days and the potential we all know they have.

FaZe certainly looked more shaken and tested. Ninjas in Pyjamas had a real chance to win the first quarter-final, but some big heroics from the FaZe individuals prevented a daunting deficit in the first half of the deciding Inferno game. Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen's squad then struggled to finish off Spirit in the semis, a massive underdog playing only for their second time ever on stage, two days after their first.

Meanwhile, Natus Vincere faced a much more proven opponent in the quarter-finals in HEROIC and edged out the #7 team without Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev looking like his usual self at any point in the series. Their superstar came alive the next day and you could see the difference that made, with a ridiculous 1.76-rated performance leading NAVI to a comfortable win over the world's #3 team, ENCE. With Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy and Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov in tow this team is really hard to bet against, but then so is FaZe, who have had an unexpected new star step into the spotlight.

MVP status: An unexpected contender steps up to the plate

Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard has been in exceptional form in Antwerp. Still fueled by people questioning whether FaZe would have won that IEM Katowice grand final with him as opposed to Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage, the longest-standing and the only remaining member of the original FaZe team has continued to prove he is here to stay and more.

The Norwegian has been the team's highest-rated and most impactful member at the PGL Major. After solid performances in groups, he was a big reason why the semi-final against Spirit didn't go the other way, as he far outperformed the trio of names you usually hear when people talk about FaZe's scary individuals, and that has made him one of the frontrunners for the MVP medal.

Of course, he has s1mple to contend against as well as b1t, with the trio now locked in a final race to the individual accolade along with electroNic and Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool, who could still make up the difference in the grand final itself. Whoever ends up clinching the MVP, it is an exciting storyline in its own right that rain is one of the main contenders this far into the tournament, a player that is mostly thought of as only the fourth-best player in this star-studded FaZe roster.

It's FaZe's shot at redemption after Boston

When you find yourself wondering about FaZe and Majors, it's difficult not to think back to that one time when everyone thought karrigan would finally get his… until he didn't. The ELEAGUE Major in 2018 had FaZe as massive favorites storm through to the grand final only to be stopped at the final hurdle by an unthinkable underdog in heartbreaking fashion, unable to convert a 15-11 lead on the Inferno decider and giving up the title to Cloud9.

This is his and rain's chance to redeem themselves and earn their place in the history books. Since Boston, neither has ever been in a position to win a Major, whether karrigan after he left FaZe or rain during his uninterrupted stay there, but now they have reunited under the same roof again and are well within a chance to hoist CS:GO's most prestigious trophy.

… and NAVI's chance to go back-to-back

Natus Vincere following up the PGL Major Stockholm victory with a title from Antwerp would see them join a handful of elite teams that won consecutive Major events. The Ukrainian organization is already a part of Major history as the only one to attend every single Major but could add another jewel to their crown by beating FaZe on Sunday.

So far, only three teams have won consecutive Majors. fnatic did so in 2015, chaining ESL One Katowice and ESL One Cologne. Luminosity/SK equaled the record in 2016 with MLG Columbus and ESL One Cologne, before Astralis set a new one in 2018-19 by claiming three consecutive Major titles three years later at FACEIT Major London, IEM Katowice 2019, and StarLadder Major Berlin.

List of back-to-back Major winning lineups:

fnatic (Katowice '15, Cologne '15)
Luminosity/SK (Columbus '16, Cologne '16)
Astralis (London '18, Katowice '19, Berlin '19)

This could be NAVI's last hurrah

Rumors of change have been swirling around a number of CIS teams both ahead of and during the Major, with the Outsiders lineup considered all but dead after we reach a resolution in Antwerp. NAVI aren't discounted from the pool either as the Major could well be the team's last ride together, the future of the Russian players on the team an unknown as the organization's CEO previously stated that they "are not going to work with people who live in Russia and who pay taxes to the Russian Federation."

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Specifically, the concerns primarily surround electroNic and Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov, the former having a family with a wife and child that are settled in Russia, and the latter only recently getting married. The NAVI organization had hoped to help relocate their Russian players, including the aforementioned pair and Ilya "⁠Perfecto⁠" Zalutskiy, but whether that will be a possibility for all three members given the situation is yet to be seen. Should that fail to materialize, we may well be looking at one of the final appearances for this iteration of the NAVI roster, one where they will be taking aiming to end on the high of winning back-to-back Major titles.