The grand final clash between Spirit and Astralis at PGL Astana 2025 promises to be one of the most exciting matches of the tournament. Both teams reached this stage following very different paths: Spirit have looked dominant and undefeated throughout, while Astralis made a surprising breakthrough after earlier struggles in qualifiers. On paper, Spirit hold a clear advantage, but a final is always a stage where surprises can happen.
Current Form
Spirit come into the PGL Astana 2025 grand final in excellent form. Over the past three months, they’ve played 46 maps and won 34. Despite finishing 3rd–4th at BLAST Rivals Season 1, their recent results show remarkable consistency — five straight wins over GamerLegion, NiP (twice), FURIA, and even Astralis, whom they’ve already defeated earlier in the tournament.
Astralis, in contrast, have lacked consistency over the past few months, winning only 29 out of 60 maps. The team failed to qualify for the BLAST.tv Austin Major, but they’ve exceeded expectations at this event by reaching the final. In their last five matches, the Danes secured four victories — against NAVI, Virtus.pro, paiN, and Aurora.
Map Pool
In a bo5 format, each team bans one map, then picks two, with the fifth remaining as the potential decider. Based on their playstyle and statistics, it’s likely that Spirit will ban Inferno first — a map they consistently avoid. Astralis, in turn, are expected to remove Anubis, which they often ban.
Spirit are expected to choose their strongest maps — most notably Dust2, which they’ve played 11 times with a 91% win rate, and Nuke, where they boast a solid 70% win rate. Astralis will likely go for Ancient, their most played and most successful map at 57% win rate, and Train, a map with a 60% win rate and potential to catch Spirit off guard.
If the match reaches a fifth map, Mirage seems like the most probable decider — a map neither team picks often, but one where both can compete on an even footing.
Head-to-Head and Key Players
Over the past six months, Spirit and Astralis have met twice — and Spirit have dominated both times. At IEM Katowice 2025, Spirit won 2-0 (Nuke 13:5, Dust2 13:4), and during the current PGL Astana 2025 tournament, they again claimed a 2-0 victory (Dust2 13:7, Ancient 13:5). In both encounters, Spirit clearly outclassed their Danish rivals.
The standout player for Spirit is donk, who has been in phenomenal form throughout the event, boasting a rating of 1.50. For Astralis, the key contributor is stavn, whose consistent performances have earned him a solid 1.20 rating at this tournament.
Match Prediction
Taking into account the current form, head-to-head record, and map statistics, Spirit appear to be the clear favorites heading into the grand final. Having already beaten Astralis twice with dominant scorelines, and with donk continuing to shine individually, they have both the confidence and firepower to close out the series. While Astralis have improved throughout the event, their chances of a full comeback in a bo5 seem slim.
Prediction: Spirit to win 3-1 and become the PGL Astana 2025 champions.
