Team Spirit has won PGL Astana 2025, finishing the event with a convincing 3:1 victory over Astralis in the grand final. It was a dominant performance across the board, but one player stood above the rest — Danil "donk" Kryshkovets. The young star put on an incredible show throughout the tournament and earned his first MVP award of the year.
This was Spirit’s second trophy in 2025. Earlier this year, they won BLAST Bounty Spring, where Dmitriy "sh1ro" Sokolov was the MVP. Now, in Kazakhstan, donk took the spotlight. With high-level impact in every match and consistent top-tier numbers, he was the engine behind Spirit’s success.
The win earned Spirit $400,000 from the $1,250,000 prize pool, while Astralis took home $187,500. Both teams will now skip the upcoming IEM Dallas 2025, so this event marked their last major appearance before the summer break for Astralis.
donk takes over Astana
Donk has once again reminded everyone why he is one of the most feared players in CS2. He was consistent, explosive, and simply better than everyone else in most matches. His impact was clear in every series.
Here are his ratings from the event:
- 7.3 vs GamerLegion
- 8.8 vs NIP
- 8.6 vs Astralis (group)
- 7.2 vs NIP (quarterfinal)
- 7.0 vs FURIA (semifinal)
- 7.8 vs Astralis (final)
- Kills per round: 0.99
- ADR (Average Damage per Round): 100.8
- Overall Rating: 7.6
One thing is sure — this was donk's event even though Spirit didn’t face a single top 10 team. He takes home his first MVP of the year and adds another chapter to his growing legacy.
EVPs of the event
Dmitriy "sh1ro" Sokolov – 6.9
Another strong showing from sh1ro. He didn’t take the spotlight like donk, but he was the second star for Spirit in nearly every match. His calm AWPing and clutch plays helped Spirit stay in control throughout the playoffs.
Martin "stavn" Lund – 6.6
This was the best version of stavn we’ve seen in months. Many fans believe the arrival of Rasmus "HooXi" Nielsen helped him unlock his full potential again. More importantly, stavn stayed strong in the playoffs, which has been a problem for him in the past. His return to form was a key reason why Astralis made the final.
İsmailсan "XANTARES" Dörtkardeş – 6.5
Myroslav "zont1x" Plakhotia – 6.2
zont1x might not always get the spotlight, but he had a great event. His clutch rounds and smart support plays made a real difference in many games. When Spirit needed someone to step up and hold the line, he answered.
Looking ahead
With Spirit and Astralis skipping IEM Dallas, we won’t see donk again until later this summer. But this MVP reamains in the conversation as one of the best players in the world. He has been consistent all year and now has a trophy and MVP to show for it. This is not enough to contest Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut, but it solififies donk as the second best player in 2025.
For Spirit, this win is another step forward. They didn’t attend some of the bigger tournaments earlier in the season, but this win is probably what they needed right before the start of the Austin Major.
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