PGL Cluj-Napoca teams revealed, here are the favorites to win

Luke Warr Published January 29, 2025

The lineup of competitors at PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 has been revealed, and the question now is who the betting favorite will be for the event.

IEM Katowice 2025 still retains monolithic status, but the Counter-Strike esports scene never slows down. Ahead of the event kicking off, PGL confirmed the teams that will compete at its upcoming event in Romania. Though many of the top Counter-Strike 2 teams have seemingly opted out of the tournament in favor of rest and recuperation after Katowice, several top squads are still set to hit the servers.

But with Katowice on the horizon and squads including Team Falcons and Complexity set to debut overhauled rosters at the event, who is the favorite at the event? Here’s everything to know heading into PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025.

Who’s the betting favorite to win PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025?

FaZe Clan, Eternal Fire, and Mouz are likely to be the betting favorites at PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025. Things may shift based on the outcome of IEM Katowice 2025, but these three European teams have the strongest body of work without being disrupted too badly by roster changes.

The full lineup of participating teams at PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 includes:

• The Mongolz
• FaZe Clan
• Mouz
• Team Falcons
• Furia
• Pain Gaming
• Eternal Fire
• 3DMax
• MIBR
• Complexity
• Saw
• BIG
• FlyQuest
• Astralis
• Wildcard
• Virtus.pro

FaZe Clan is likely to be the betting favorite to win PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025. The team took second place at both the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 and PGL Major Copenhagen 2024. It will bring most of the team that took those honors, with the lone change from Shanghai being Robin “ropz” Kool’s removal in favor of North American veteran Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski.

Mouz is in a similar boat. It finished top-four at the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 and made just one change during the holidays. Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek was benched in favor of Lotan “Spinx” Giladi, who was signed away from Team Vitality.

Eternal Fire may or may not be a dark horse favorite by the time IEM Katowice wraps up. The team had a solid 2024 but made major strides in the standings by taking second place at BLAST Bounty Spring 2025 against stiff competition. The team looks ready to break out and could break through with a strong showing at IEM Katowice.

None of these teams are slam dunks, though. Teams like The Mongolz, Pain Gaming, and MIBR have taken wins over elite opponents. Even squads like Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa’s Wildcard Gaming are hardly slouches, so there’s little margin for error.

PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 start date, format

PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 will begin on February 14 and will host its finals on February 23.

The tournament will begin with a Counter-Strike major-style Swiss stage. The 16 teams will be seeded and will compete across best-of-three matches. Teams that win three matches advance to the next stage, while teams that lose three matches are eliminated from the event.

After the group stage, the remaining eight teams will be placed into a single-elimination tournament bracket. Matches are best-of-three until the best-of-five finals.

PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 has a $1.25 million prize pool with a top prize of $400,000.