The organizer of the PGL Bucharest 2025 offered direct invitations to the top European teams, but NAVI and Spirit decided to skip the tournament. Instead, NAVI Junior and Spirit Academy will play in their places in the closed qualifiers.

This decision came as a surprise, as both organizations are fighting for Valve rating points that will determine the participants of the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025. NAVI is currently ranked 9th in the VRS rankings, but a few bad performances can send them to the qualifiers, which will make it much more difficult to fight for a place at the major.

As for Spirit, they are now the first team in the world according to the VRS rankings, so their absence at PGL Bucharest is less critical for them. However, this is the second time in a row that they have refused to participate in PGL tournaments, which may indicate some problems between the organization and the tournament operator.

Why will NAVI and Spirit skip the tournament?

The organizations did not officially explain their decision, but there are several logical reasons:

• Thecalendar is busy - the teams are focused on more important tournaments, including the ESL Pro League and BLAST Open Lisbon 2025.
• Financial or organizational nuances - PGL tournaments have been ignored by the top teams recently, such as PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025
• Scheduling issues - Spirit and NAVI have big plans for 2025, including preparations for the majors and other events.

In any case, the refusal of NAVI and Spirit is a significant blow to the prestige of PGL Bucharest 2025, as the tournament will lose to two of one the best teams in Europe.

The most interesting teams in the qualifiers

Despite the withdrawal of NAVI and Spirit, the qualifiers will still be very competitive. Here are a few teams that could be the main contenders for the single slot:

• Monte - a promising team from Ukraine that has already surprised many times.
• BIG - the Germans are not in the best shape, but they have experience of playing at the top level.
• ENCE is a team that has shown a good level at previous tournaments and wants to be in the top again.
• fnatic - a legendary organization that is now fighting to return to the elite.
• NAVI Junior - it is interesting to see how the young NAVI team will perform in the face of fierce competition.
• Spirit Academy - the Spirit Academy has always demonstrated a high level, but will they be able to go further without the main team?

When and where will PGL Bucharest 2025 take place?

• Closed qualifiers - February 28 - March 8
• Main tournament - April 6 - April 13
• Prize pool - $1,250,000

Only one team will get a slot in the tournament, and the competition will be extremely high.

Was it a risky decision for NAVI and Spirit? Should they have fought for a place in PGL Bucharest?