Skip to main content
Esports

Team Spirit crowned PGL Astana champion, defeating Team Falcons in the process

The event was a huge hit with it becoming the most-watched non-major PGL event for Counter-Strike to date.
Ben Lyons Senior Editor 20 May 2026

You may have glossed over it due to the sheer immense number of esports events that happened over the past weekend, but the PGL Astana 2026 event also came to a close, seeing many of the top Counter-Strike 2 teams from around the world in-attendance and competing.

To this end, after a hectic run of action, Team Spirit ended up coming out on top, making short work of Team Falcons in a 3-0 finale that saw the organisation walking away with $256,000 in prize money and setting them up as one to watch as we head into IEM Cologne in June.

https://x.com/pglesports/status/2056019592955461772

It was also revealed that PGL Astana 2026 was a record-breaking event for the tournament organiser, as it has become the most-watched non-major Counter-Strike event hosted by PGL, with a peak of 1,169,121 viewers during its grand final on May 17. Needless to say, competitive Counter-Strike 2 is very much alive and well.

Senior Editor Ben was a Senior Editor at Gamereactor UK. When he wasn’t writing, editing or filming for Gamereactor, he could usually be found playing an FPS or getting lost in a sprawling RPG.
Full profile Gamereactor author since October 2020 · 18,577 published articles
Why trust Gamereactor
23 Editions Each with its own newsroom and its own scores.
1998 Publishing since Independently owned for the whole of it.
100% Hands-on Written from time with the game, never press material.
1–10 Network Score Every edition’s score, averaged and shown.