Meet the 8 teams qualified for the PGL Major Stockholm bracket stage

The PGL Major Stockholm comes to a conclusion this weekend with the third and final stage: the bracket stage aka the New Champions Stage. An eight-team single-elimination bracket will determine the first Counter-Strike: Global Offensive major champion since 2019 when Astralis won the StarLadder Berlin Major.

How the PGL Major Stockholm has played out so far

The tournament started with 16 teams competing in the New Challengers Stage. After five days of Swiss System format competition, eight teams were eliminated.

All three Brazilian rosters -- paiN Gaming, Sharks Esports and Godsent -- were eliminated, with the latter two both failing to win any games. Oceania’s Renegades and Asia’s Tyloo also were eliminated. The other three teams that got eliminated were BIG, Team Spirit and Movistar Riders. Spirit was representing the CIS region, while the other two hail from Europe. Spirit’s elimination was particularly sad because afterward the org announced the team would be disbanded after November’s DreamHack Open.

In the New Legends Stage, another eight teams were eliminated. Two of the three North American Legends teams were eliminated: Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses. FaZe Clan, who went 3-0 in the New Challengers Stage was one map away from advancing before they were ultimately eliminated. Astralis, the winners of the most recent major, were defeated. The other teams eliminated in this stage were: MOUZ, ENCE, Entropiq and TBD.

Teams that qualified for the bracket stage

With 16 teams eliminated, there are now eight teams left with a chance to become major champions.

Natus Vincere

Na’Vi had a clean run through the New Legends Stage, not dropping a map and amassing a +31 round differential, which was the best of any team in this stage of the tournament. They were one of the heavy favorites coming into the major, and they didn’t do anything to change that narrative.

G2 Esports

G2 also had a flawless run through the New Legends Stage and put up a +24 round differential. They weren’t quite as heavily favored as Na’Vi going into the major, but they were one of our contenders.

Photo credit: PGL

Heroic

Heroic are the only one of the eight Challengers teams to make it through to the bracket stage. Their only loss was to Na’Vi, and they beat Team Vitality, Astralis and Copenhagen Flames to make it through as the No. 3 seed. It’s an impressive showing for a team that was one of our dark horses heading in.

Gambit Esports

Like Na’Vi, Gambit were one of the favorites heading into the major. Nonetheless, Gambit have not looked quite as impressive. They lost to Entropiq, a team that was ultimately eliminated, and had a close match against Virtus.pro. However, they have played well against Na’Vi this year (more on that below).

FURIA Esports

FURIA have upheld Brazil’s pride at the major after the other three teams with Brazilian rosters were eliminated in the first stage. After losing their first game in the New Legends Stage against Astralis, it looked like they would have a quick exit from the tournament too, but they won their next two games against MOUZ and Team Liquid and then a best-of-three against Entropiq to qualify.

Virtus.pro

Virtus.pro is the only Contenders team to make it to the bracket stage. They have made an impressive run already, and they had to play through two stages just to make it this far. They beat Team Vitality in their opening game of the New Legends Stage, beat MOUZ 22-18 on a Map 3 that went to OT and then pulled off a 2-1 win against an impressive FaZe squad to qualify.

Photo credit: PGL

Team Vitality

Of the eight Legends teams, Team Vitality have had the roughest time in the New Legends Stage. They lost their first two games against Virtus.pro and Heroic to put them on the brink of elimination. That means they had to win three straight best-of-threes (all of which went three maps) to qualify for the New Champions Stage. As vulnerable as they looked early on, they’re certainly battle-tested now.

Ninjas in Pyjamas

The final spot in the bracket stage came down to NIP and Copenhagen Flames. It was either going to be the hometown favorites NIP getting to play in front of fans at Avicii Arena or the Copenhagen Flames continuing their Cinderella story. NIP pulled out a 2-1 victory with the third map going to OT. To be fair, their two losses in the New Legends Stage were against tournament favorites Na’Vi and Gambit, and they’ll have a difficult but winnable matchup against G2 in the New Champions Stage.

How the bracket might play out

Na’Vi have the top seed and they’re still heavy favorites. They’ll face Team Vitality first, and given Vitality’s struggles in the New Legends Stage, Na’Vi should be able to beat them. However, their semifinal match might be against Gambit, who have been their kryptonite this year. Dating back to June, Na’Vi have only lost six times -- five against Gambit.

In the bottom half of the bracket, G2 are the No. 2 seed, so if they can reach the final, we could see a rematch of the IEM Masters XVI - Cologne final in which Na’Vi beat G2. Heroic and Virtus.pro match up in the first round at the bottom of the bracket. Don’t be surprised if whoever wins that matchup upsets G2 in the semis and reaches the final.

The CIS region has had a banner year in 2021 with Gambit winning VALORANT’s Masters: Berlin and Team Spirit winning Dota’s International. Will Na’Vi or Gambit or even Virtus.pro continue that trend? We’ll find out after the grand final on Sunday.

Lead photo credit: PGL