magic stuns 9z with Ancient comeback to reach PGL semis

magic beat 9z 2-1 in the PGL Astana playoffs, completing a late comeback on the deciding map Ancient to reach the semifinals. The series opened on Dust2, moved to Mirage and finished on Ancient in Astana.

Dust2 went to magic after a 9-3 defensive halftime. Vitaliy “sFade8” Marushka managed rotations while Andrey “AW” Anisimov and Abdurakhim “mo0N” Issa supplied key kills. mo0N’s multi-kill and several successful low-economy rounds helped magic close the map as the second half featured many force-buys and chaotic exchanges.

9z won Mirage on magic’s map pick, driven by Argentine AWPer Ignacio “meyern” Meyer. Meyern produced multiple multi-kills around the A site and secured a three-kill on the T pistol round that set 9z on the path to a clean map win. He finished the match with a team-high 49 kills and a 1.28 rating.

Ancient began with 9z controlling the offensive rounds, but Svyatoslav “MaSvAl” Masko produced several multi-kills to keep magic in contention. After the sides switched, 9z maintained a defensive edge early. magic altered their offense to favor fast mid pushes and won several clutch rounds. Impact plays from AW and Nikita “tenzy” Kochenyuk contributed to magic’s late run. Meyern missed several AWP shots in the final rounds, and 9z were unable to stop magic’s sequence of wins that closed the map.

magic entered PGL Astana as one of the lower-ranked teams in the field and reached the playoffs after recovering from an 0-2 start in the group stage. 9z had advanced through the groups with straight wins over PARIVISION, MOUZ and Falcons and had sought to match their best Big Event result, a semifinal at IEM Dallas 2024.

Series statistics highlight top performers. AW led magic with 53 kills and a 1.25 rating. Meyern recorded 49 kills, a 79.9 average damage per round and a 1.28 rating. Other contributors for 9z included Matias “HUASOPEEK” Ibañez Hernandez (44 kills, 1.14 rating) and Luciano “luchov” Herrera (46 kills, 1.13 rating). For magic, MaSvAl posted 37 kills with a 1.08 rating, tenzy finished with 39 kills and a 1.00 rating, sFade8 had 32 kills and mo0N 31 kills.

magic will appear in the PGL Astana semifinals. The event organizers will announce the semifinal schedule and opponents as the tournament progresses.