PGL Masters Bucharest 2025PR shines as GamerLegion win their first playoff match of 2025 over HEROIC
The Czech starlet put up the best playoff performance of his career.
GamerLegion have beaten HEROIC 2-1 for a spot in the semi-finals of PGL Masters Bucharest, their first playoff win of 2025.
The matchup, the first time the two teams have faced each other all year like the other three quarter-finals, pitted two ex-Young Ninjas IGLs against each other in the form of Linus "LNZ" Holtäng and Erik "ztr" Gustafsson.
Add to a further trio of Linus "nilo" Bergman, Fredrik "REZ" Sterner, and Simon "yxngstxr" Boije, the match had a Swedish flavour and we saw some crisp Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg-esque aim courtesy of REZ to kick off Nuke.
But the match was also about the international talent on display, embodied by a player like Oldřich "PR" Nový who has left his native Czech scene and reaped the rewards.
The 18-year-old has struggled in playoffs this year and had a poor map one, but he was outstanding on Dust2 (+12.6% round swing, 2.03 rating) and on Nuke (24-13, 122 ADR) to fire GamerLegion into the semi-finals.
"On first map I was nervous, it felt like my first map on LAN," PR told Jacky "Jacky" Powers post-game. "But I bounced back, I'm happy. It's the first playoff game we won. It's a studio but it doesn't matter."
On the other side of the server, Yasin "xfl0ud" Koç was the highest-rated player of the group stage on a 1.46 rating but struggled to maintain that peak in the quarter-final. The output was there at times, although it was padded in anti-eco rounds and that was reflected in his -0.45% round swing for the series.
But for HEROIC it was team moments that cost them, with an anti-eco at 1-1 on Nuke resulting in them going down 3-7 with very few buy vs round rounds on the favored CT side.
GamerLegion win first playoff game of 2025
After a last-place finish at CAC, GamerLegion are back.
At least Ashley "ash" Battye will hope so; the team's rifle trio have all shown good form, and that remains the win condition for the team with Milan "hypex" Polowiec failing to convince once again.
But that is a problem for later. For now, the team will just be happy that they have won their first playoff match of the year after losing four previous quarter-finals.
More highlights from GamerLegion vs HEROIC:
 HEROIC |
K - D | Swing | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 53 - 39 | +0.77% | 86.5 | 81.7% | 1.26 | |
| 43 - 49 | -0.45% | 83.7 | 61.7% | 1.04 | |
| 44 - 39 | -0.73% | 66.4 | 73.3% | 1.02 | |
| 25 - 42 | -0.55% | 54.1 | 61.7% | 0.85 | |
| 32 - 48 | -3.29% | 61.9 | 71.7% | 0.79 |
 GamerLegion |
K - D | Swing | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58 - 40 | +5.91% | 105.7 | 78.3% | 1.59 | |
| 44 - 48 | -0.23% | 85.2 | 71.7% | 1.07 | |
| 35 - 33 | -0.65% | 67.8 | 75.0% | 1.02 | |
| 41 - 39 | +1.41% | 63.5 | 61.7% | 0.98 | |
| 38 - 37 | -2.20% | 62.0 | 73.3% | 0.89 |
Ashley 'ash' Battye
Patrik 'f0rest' Lindberg
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