Team Vitality, Virtus.pro and Ninjas in Pyjamas won their do-or-die Round 5 matches Tuesday to earn the final three available spots in the Champions Stage at the PGL Major Stockholm.
Vitality defeated Entropiq, Virtus.pro (VP) outlasted FaZe Clan and Ninjas (NIP) beat Copenhagen Flames, all by 2-1 scores in best-of-three series.
The top eight finishers in the Legends Stage now proceed to the Champions Stage, which is a single-elimination bracket (best-of-three matches), set for Thursday through Sunday. The first five Champions berths previously went to Natus Vincere, G2 Esports, Heroic, Gambit Esports and FURIA Esports.
Vitality opened Tuesday with a 16-14 win on Mirage before Entropiq countered with a 16-13 result on Overpass. Vitality was convincing on the decisive map with a 16-5 win on Dust II.
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut led the all-French Vitality squad with a dominant 74-44 kills-to-deaths differential (plus-30).
VP dropped their first map to FaZe 16-13 on Inferno before pulling out two tight victories: 16-14 on Ancient and 16-11 on Overpass.
Two Latvian players carried their respective sides. Mareks “YEKINDAR” Galinskis led Virtus.pro with 68 kills and a plus-9 K-D differential. Helvijs “broky” Saukants also posted 68 kills along with a match-high plus-23 K-D differential for FaZe.
The Flames began with a 16-10 win over NIP on Nuke, but NIP rebounded with a 16-13 triumph on Inferno. The deciding map required overtime, with NIP pulling out a 19-17 win on Ancient to advance.
Sweden’s Hampus “hampus” Poser recorded a match-high 78 kills and a plus-8 K-D differential to guide NIP.
The PGL Major Stockholm 2021 is a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive major championship with a total prize pool of $2 million. The winner nets $1 million plus 4,000 Blast Premier points and an automatic bid to the World Final 2021 in December.
Sixteen teams competed in the Legends Stage, which ran through Tuesday. Elimination and advancement matches were best of three, while all other matches were best-of-one.
The Champions Stage begins with two best-of-three quarterfinals matches on Thursday:
Heroic vs. Virtus.pro
Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. G2 Esports
PGL Major Stockholm prize pool:
1. $1 million — TBD
2. $300,000 — TBD
3-4. $140,000 — TBD
5-8. $70,000 — TBD
9-11. $17,500 — Entropiq, FaZe Clan, Copenhagen Flames
12-14. $17,500 — Team Liquid, Astralis, MOUZ
15-16. $17,500 — Evil Geniuses, ENCE
17-19. No prize money — Movistar Riders, BIG, Team Spirit
20-22. No prize money — TYLOO, Renegades, paiN Gaming
23-24. No prize money — Godsent, Sharks Esports
–Field Level Media
