Spirit scrape past GamerLegion

Spirit have locked down a 1-0 start after a tight two-map series against GamerLegion.

Spirit are headed to the 1-0 pool in the Swiss group stage of PGL Astana 2025 after scoring a hard-fought win over GamerLegion in the Russian side's opening match.

With Vitality absent from the event in Kazakhstan, Spirit enter PGL Astana as the favorites to take home the trophy. While GamerLegion will be disappointed they just missed out on getting over the line against the strongest team at the event, Spirit will be hoping for a less-competitive match in their 1-0 series.

The series kicked off on GamerLegion's pick of Mirage, where Erik "⁠ztr⁠" Gustafsson's men racked up a solid 5-3 lead on the offense before Spirit rebounded with four in a row at the end of the half. A crisp pistol round win from Spirit propelled the Russians into the lead, but GamerLegion crawled back to an 11-11 scoreline.

Despite their efforts, GamerLegion fell short at the final hurdle, as Spirit locked down the final two rounds they needed to avoid getting dragged into overtime.

GamerLegion managed an even stronger start to kick off Spirit's pick of Nuke, dominating on the defense with a commanding 6-1 lead. Off the back of solid output from Boris "⁠magixx⁠" Vorobiev, Spirit clawed their way to a 5-7 half, going on to take the lead after bagging the second pistol.

The latter portion of the second half devolved into a back-and-forth affair, but Spirit eventually wrested control in large part thanks to a crucial eco win to secure an 11-10 scoreline. GamerLegion were denied the opportunity to compete in overtime yet again, as Spirit closed out the series 2-0 with another 13-11 map win.