PGL Bucharest 2025 will kick off the group stage with an exciting match between the Brazilian team FURIA and the Polish team Apogee. Both teams are at different stages of their form: FURIA is trying to overcome a prolonged crisis, while Apogee is gaining momentum after successful qualifiers. The match is of great importance — a win will secure a good position in the group, while a loss will complicate the path to the playoffs.

Current Form of the Teams

FURIA

Recently, FURIA has been showing inconsistent play. The team's average rating at S-tier events over the past month is 6.1 — indicating a not very high level of performance. At the ESL Pro League Season 21, the Brazilians failed to reach the playoffs, finishing with a 1-3 record. Their performance at the BLAST Open Spring 2025 was even less successful: two consecutive losses and an exit in last place.

Out of their last five matches, FURIA managed to secure only one victory — against MIBR. The other matches ended in defeats against M80, NAVI, Falcons, and Liquid.

Apogee

In contrast, Apogee is showing growth: although the team lacks a rating at S-tier events, their overall score for the past month is 6.0. At the PGL Bucharest 2025: European Qualifier, the team advanced without a single loss, allowing them to reach the main stage of the tournament. However, at less prestigious tournaments, the results were more modest — 5-8 place at the CCT Season 2 European Series 20 and 17-19 place at the Galaxy Battle 2025 // STARTER.

In their last five matches, Apogee secured two victories against FAVBET and WildLotus, but suffered three losses — against Aurora, ECSTATIC, and OG.

Team Map Pool

FURIA is expected to start by banning Ancient — a map they almost always exclude from their map pool. In response, Apogee will likely remove Inferno, a map they traditionally avoid. In the pick phase, FURIA might bet on Dust II, where they feel confident and have a high win rate. On the other hand, Apogee will logically choose Nuke — one of their strongest maps, where their win rate reaches 67%.

In the second wave of bans, FURIA will try to eliminate Anubis to prevent Apogee from playing on another comfortable map. Apogee will likely ban Mirage — even despite FURIA's weak statistics, the map still remains part of their strategic arsenal. Train will be left as the decider — a rare and little-studied map for both teams, making it an unpredictable factor in the outcome of the match.

Match Prediction

The match promises to be interesting, despite FURIA being the more renowned team. Their current form raises concerns — inconsistent play, poor results in recent tournaments, and a lack of confidence even against lower-ranked teams. Apogee, on the other hand, is showing ambition and stability in matches against opponents of their level. It's also important that the team confidently passed the qualification, which may indicate good team interaction and preparation for the event.

Prediction: FURIA wins 2-0

PGL Bucharest 2025 takes place from April 6 to 13. The entire tournament will be held in Bucharest, Romania, at the PGL Studio. Participants are competing for a prize pool of $625,000. You can follow the results and progress of the tournament via this link.