Despite all efforts from PGL to save their events, things are not working out. Top teams still prefer to play ESL and BLAST tournaments instead of PGL ones. Recently, the list of invited teams for IEM Chengdu 2025 was announced. Out of the world’s top 16 (Valve ranking), only Aurora and GamerLegion declined. All other top teams accepted and will play in China.

IEM Chengdu is the problem for PGL

At the same time, around the same dates, PGL Masters Bucharest 2025 will take place. This event was moved from Belgrade to Bucharest and will run October 25 – November 2. Just one day later, IEM Chengdu 2025 begins on November 3 – 9.

This creates a huge problem. Any team that reaches the top 4 in Bucharest will not be able to arrive in China on time. They will risk disqualification from IEM Chengdu or will be forced to start in the lower bracket.

Because of this, most top teams are expected to decline invitations for Bucharest. Only a few who don’t expect to reach the playoffs might try both events. We saw a similar situation last season, when several teams played PGL Astana and IEM Dallas back-to-back. There were delays, rescheduled matches, and bad performances due to jet lag. No team was disqualified, but most failed because of travel stress.

Who might play in Bucharest?

Invites for PGL Bucharest will be based on the September Valve ranking (not yet released), but we can already guess. Since Aurora and GamerLegion skipped Chengdu, they will probably accept the Bucharest invite. This gives them a better chance at prize money and a deeper run.

The rest of the list will likely include weaker teams:

• Legacy
• NIP
• BetBoom
• FlyQuest
• B8
• Gentle Mates
• Liquid
• SAW
• Passion UA
• MIBR
• M80
• OG
• PARIVISION
• Fnatic

So yes, there will be recognizable names, but almost none from the top 10. Apart from Aurora, no elite team is expected.

Why this is bad for PGL

PGL is offering a $1.25 million prize pool and investing a lot into a big LAN event. But without top-10 teams, it will feel like a tier-2 tournament.

Viewership is likely to be low, interest will be limited, and it’s hard to imagine the event paying off.

The only thing that helps Bucharest is that no other event will run at the same time. That means all attention will be on PGL. But even then, compared to ESL and BLAST, PGL is losing the battle.

• Against ESL, they are already far behind.
• Against BLAST, there is still some hope, because BLAST itself is struggling. Many teams are skipping BLAST events to play smaller organizers like FISSURE, who offer LAN stages and better conditions.

Still, PGL is in a very difficult position. For example, Vitality did not attend a single PGL event this year. Only at PGL Astana did both NAVI and Spirit finally show up, after skipping earlier PGL tournaments in Cluj-Napoca and Bucharest.

Unless something changes, PGL Masters Bucharest 2025 will not be the world-class event PGL hoped for. Instead, it will become a tier-2 tournament – important for the teams attending, but far below ESL and BLAST events in prestige and interest.