donk.

That’s it. That’s the recap.

In Astralis’ first grand final appearance at a big event since 2019 - a run few saw coming, perhaps not even Astralis themselves - Team Spirit lived up to their favorite status. Powered by yet another donk masterclass, they secured the PGL Astana trophy in dominant fashion.

It all kicked off on Dust2, where Spirit came out firing on all cylinders. Up-and-coming young talent chopper put on his best donk impression, dropping a 13-2 scoreline in the first half and leading Spirit to a 11-1 lead. It didn’t take long for Spirit to close it out, sending the series to Nuke. Not much of a story here, just a map that screamed this series wasn’t gonna last long. We love us some foreshadowing.

Nuke stayed relatively close right up until the end, when chopper and donk pulled off some ridiculous clutches, snagging two massive rounds that pushed Spirit to a 2-0 series lead. If you haven’t seen those rounds, please do. Outrageous stuff.

Astralis had Nuke in the bag, managing to mount a comeback despite a shaky first half, but you just can’t hand over two nearly unlosable rounds back-to-back like that.

Also, be careful what you say to donk, the man does not pull punches.

Just when it looked like the series would come to an end on Mirage - one of Spirit’s best maps - the gigachad said not on my watch. The IGL turned into a star rifler and dropped a 1.51 rating performance in what was an Astralis 13-5 demolition. The break clearly did wonders for HooXi, who’s been playing above his usual level. G2 really was holding him back.

Despite donk’s shenanigans, Spirit just couldn’t keep pace. If donk doesn’t drop a multikill every other round or pull off some miracle play, the team tends to struggle, which is not a new issue, but definitely a worrying one.

Hopping onto de_train, the stabbi duo showed up and and seemed to hold off Spirit’s T-side comeback after a slow CT half.

Unfortunately for them, the beast woke up when it mattered most. Donk came through once again - and it doesn’t matter the weapon, he even clutches with the AWP.

The kid truly is inevitable.

In the end, this was the most likely outcome. Without the big boys around, Astana became Spirit’s tournament to lose - and they showed up.

Spirit won’t be playing at IEM Dallas this week, opting instead to fully focus on the Major. Who knows? They might just prove they belong in the top-3 conversation.

As for Astralis, they came into this tournament with nothing to lose, so this run probably wasn’t even in their wildest dreams. That made their finals appearance a welcome surprise.

Now, with plenty of time on their hands – since they won’t be playing the Major - they can really buckle down and prepare for next season. After this strong first impression, we wouldn’t be surprised to see HooXi continue leading the charge.

Assuming the org doesn’t go bankrupt by then, of course.

Here are the final standings of PGL Astana’s Playoffs:

1st: 🇷🇺 Spirit ($200k)

2nd: 🇩🇰 Astralis ($93,750)

3rd: 🇹🇷 Aurora ($75k)

4th: 🇧🇷 FURIA ($43,750)

5th-8th: 🇪🇺 NIP ($31,250)

5th-8th: 🇧🇷 MIBR ($31,250)

5th-8th: 🇪🇺 NAVI ($31,250)

5th-8th: 🇲🇳 The MongolZ ($31,250)