PGL Astana 2026: Six top-10 teams, $1.6M prize pool

PGL Astana 2026 opens May 9 in Astana, Kazakhstan, and runs through May 17. The tournament will use a five-round Swiss group stage to determine the eight teams that advance to single-elimination playoffs. Playoff matches, including a third-place decider and a best-of-five final, will be played in front of a live audience at BARYS Arena.

Six teams ranked in the top 10 will attend while another global event takes place concurrently. Falcons and Spirit enter with the highest VRS ranks among the field. Finn “karrigan” Andersen will make his first appearance in a Falcons jersey at the event. Justinas “jL” Lekavicius and Adrian “xelex” Vincze will debut for a retooled MOUZ roster. The full field is Aurora, HEROIC, G2, Fisher College, MOUZ, Gentle Mates, The MongolZ, magic, Falcons, K27, Spirit, The Huns, FURIA, Monte, PARIVISION and 9z.

Opening-day matchups on May 9 start with Aurora versus HEROIC and G2 versus Fisher College at 05:00. MOUZ meets Gentle Mates and The MongolZ face magic at 08:00. Falcons play K27 and Spirit face The Huns at 11:00. Later that day FURIA meet Monte and PARIVISION play 9z at 14:00. The group stage will continue across five rounds to set the playoff bracket.

The tournament carries a $1.6 million prize pool split between player and club shares. The winning team’s players receive $256,000 and the club receives $256,000. The runner-up player and club shares are $120,000 each. Third place receives $96,000 per share and fourth place $56,000 per share. Teams finishing fifth through eighth receive $40,000 per share; ninth through eleventh receive $20,000 per share; twelfth through fourteenth receive $12,000 per share; and fifteenth through sixteenth receive $8,000 per share.

PGL assembled a 15-person broadcast team for the event. Richard “Richard Lewis” Lewis and Sam “Tech Girl” Wright will host. James “BanKs” Banks will handle stage hosting and interviews. Analysts include Sudhen “Bleh” Wahengbam, Alex “Mauisnake” Ellenberg, Dustin “dusT” Mouret and Zvonimir “Professeur” Burazin. Casters on site include Mohan “launders” Govindasamy, Conner “Scrawny” Girvan, Harry “JustHarry” Russell and Hugo “Hugo” Byron, with remote contributions from Jason “moses” O’Toole, Adam “Dinko” Hawthorne, Anders “Anders” Blume and Vince “Vince” Hill.

Organizers will run two official fantasy contests, one for the group stage and one for the playoffs, with in-game item prizes such as a Huntsman Knife | Bright Water (Minimal Wear), M4A1-S | Player Two (Minimal Wear), AK-47 | Searing Rage (Factory New) and AWP | Hyper Beast (Field-Tested). On-site reporters Danish “Nohte” Allana and Radosław “MAKKU” Makuch will provide interviews, photos and social updates from the venue.

The event schedule, roster debuts and prize distribution are set and available ahead of the first matches on May 9.