NaVi vs Astralis: PGL Astana playoffs CS2 betting guide

Steven Rondina Published 14/05/2025

Astralis has done a solid job in PGL Astana, but does the team have a serious chance of making a run when it faces NaVi in the playoffs?

Fans have been wringing their hands over Astralis’ struggles for various reasons over recent years. Despite that, Astralis has been a workable top-20 team, even though it lacks the stability fans took for granted during the brand’s heyday. The latest iteration of the team debuted in PGL Astana and has looked solid, but the question now is whether they’ll be able to actually gather momentum.

So can Astralis beat Natus Vincere in PGL Astana, and how should you approach betting on this match?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCnrBGgxsnM

NaVi vs Astralis match details

The PGL Astana playoffs will include a quarterfinals match between NaVi and Astralis. The match will take place on May 16, 2025 and will be contested in a best-of-three format. PGL Astana uses a single elimination playoffs bracket, so the loser is eliminated from the tournament while the winner will advance to the semifinals.

NaVi vs Astralis recent form, rosters, and best maps

NaVi roster and recent results

PGL Astana started well for NaVi, with the team taking 2-0 wins over M80 and BIG. The MongolZ threw a wrench into their plans for a quick 3-0 run, but a 2-0 victory got NaVi a ticket to the playoffs.

The longstanding roster of NaVi remains intact:

• Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen
• Valerij “b1t” Vakhovsjkyj
• Justinas “jL” Lekavičius
• Mihai “iM” Ivan
• Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov

NaVi map pool

NaVi has steadily maintained top-10 standing in 2025 thanks to its strength on Mirage and solid record on Inferno. The team sparingly plays on Nuke, Anubis, and Train and hasn’t performed well on the latter two maps in that limited sample size.

Astralis roster and recent results

Astralis shook up its roster ahead of PGL Astana by removing Casper “cadiaN” Møller and the early results are looking positive. The team posted a solid group stage performance by ODDIK and Pain Gaming. A loss to Team Spirit prevented a clean sweep, but Astralis punched its ticket to the playoffs by beating Virtus.pro.

The Astralis roster is currently led by a stand-in in Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen:

• Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz
• Victor “Staehr” Staehr
• Martin “stavn” Lund
• Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard
• Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen

Astralis map pool

Mirage and Dust 2 have been troublesome for Astralis, but the team has a winning record elsewhere in 2025. Its best map has been Inferno, where the team is 15-9. Don’t expect Astralis to appear on Anubis, though.

NaVi vs Astralis head-to-head history

Throughout Counter-Strike 2’s short history, NaVi and Astralis have played four times. NaVi won three of those matches, with the most recent coming in January 2025 during the BLAST Bounty Spring qualifiers. NaVi won that match 2-0, though it was online rather than on LAN.

NaVi vs Astralis betting odds snapshot

NaVi is a big betting favorite against Astralis, with the moneylines set to 1.28 against 3.52. Though Astralis is looking about as good as fans could’ve hoped, betting sites aren’t biting on the idea that the team has radically transformed with the addition of HooXi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hISL95uQyE

NaVi vs Astralis best betting picks & predictions

Core picks

• NaVi wins 2-0 (2.01)
  • While NaVi will sometimes give up a map to a team of Astralis’ caliber, the team usually wins these matches 2-0
• NaVi wins maps in under 20.5 rounds (3.27)
  • This is a riskier play with a bigger reward; when Astralis loses to a top-10 team, there’s a good chance it will come in lopsided fashion

Prediction

NaVi should be able to defeat Astralis in the PGL Astana playoffs. Though Astralis hasn’t lost a step with HooXi, there’s no sign that the team is improved to the point where they should be favored over a top-five-caliber team like NaVi.

Steven Rondina

About Steven Rondina

Steven Rondina is a true lifelong gamer. His earliest memories are of playing video games, and he has continued playing them throughout his life with no plans to stop any time soon. Steven’s favorite franchises in gaming include Pokemon, Dark Souls, and Counter-Strike. He has previously published with Bleacher Report and other gaming outlets.

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