CS2: PGL Major Copenhagen competition heats up as Elimination Stage begins

Competition is expected to toughen up as the PGL Major Copenhagen – the first-ever Major for CS2 – enters the Elimination Stage today, March 21st.

8 teams from the Opening Stages made it to the Elimination stage: HEROIC, Cloud9, Eternal Fire, Ecstatic, paiN Gaming, Imperial Esports, The MongolZ, and Furia Esports.

They will face off against some of the best of the best in global CS2 esports: IEM Katowice 2024 champions Team Spirit, FaZe Clan, Team Vitality, MOUZ, Complexity Gaming, Virtus.pro, Natus Vincere and G2 Esports.

 

All Round 1 matches are expected to happen today – matches that will set the stage for what will appear to be a bruising fight.

MOUZ from Europe’s RMR B group and one of eight teams that made it to the Elimination Stage directly, will face off against Ecstatic, who placed 4th during the opening stages of PGL Major Copenhagen. Ecstatic lost to Cloud9 in the opening stages but bounced back against the MongolZ, Lynn Vision Gaming and Imperial Esports to punch their ticket to the Elimination Stage.

At the same time, Ukrainian esports organization Natus Vincere or NaVi will be up against one of Asia’s powerhouse CS2 teams, the MongolZ. MongolZ came up short in the first two matches of the series – however, Garidmagnai “bLitz” Byambasuren carried the team to their first win against AMKAL that set them on a path to redemption in the series. Can the Mongolian comeback kings beat one of CS – and Esports – most popular names is what the MongolZ’s fans should watch out for.

Meanwhile, Team Vitality will go up against Eternal Fire, who placed 3rd in the opening stages with a 3-1 win-loss record. While starting out strong with 2 Bo1 wins against MongolZ and paiN, they were beaten by HEROIC in a 0-2 sweep before bouncing back against GamerLegion to book their Elimination Stage ticket. Now, the all-Turkish lineup of Eternal Fire begins their quest to try and make it into the playoffs.

Virtus.pro, who had been on a win streak since the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European RMR A and the Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2024: European Qualifiers, aims to keep their winning ways as they battle it out against Brazilian team Imperial Esports, who placed sixth in the opening stages. In what can be a potential underdog victory story against one of the most dominant teams in global CS2 as of late, can Imperial Esports put a dent against Virtus.pro’s dominance?

Can FaZe Clan – runner-up of IEM Katowice 2024, begin their quest for redemption by battling it out against the #1 team in the Opening Stages – Heroic? The answer may need to be dug deep as Heroic is also on a win streak following IEM Dallas’ European Qualifiers and throughout the Opening Stages, where they defeated Imperial Esports and Eternal Fire.

Meanwhile, Complexity Gaming – who qualified via the American RMR, will face off against paiN Gaming, who ranked 5th during the opening stage. paiN is coming off hot against a dominant performance against ENCE, and hopes to continue on to try and cement their path to victory.

IEM Katowice 2024 Champions Team Spirit will face off against Cloud9 in what appears to be a star-studded battle of rosters. How Donk and company will face off against Boombl4 and the rest of Cloud9’s household name-filled roster is one thing the entire CS2 world is watching out for.

Finally, G2 Esports will face off against FURIA – another team which nearly got eliminated in the Opening Stages. Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo put on an absolute masterclass that put the team on a comeback path to try and slug it out against the best of the best in global CS2. How the momentum will remain (or leave) FURIA’s side will now be put to the test.

All round 1 matches will be Bo1s to determine which team will continue on with their PGL Major journey, and will eventually advance to the 2024 Esports World Cup in Saudi Arabia.

The first day of the Elimination Stages begins at 1200H GMT+1.