Gambit and Spirit secure spots in 2021 PGL Stockholm Major

Gambit Esports and Team Spirit have locked in their spots for the PGL Stockholm Major, which starts on Oct. 23. The two CS:GO teams from the CIS region accomplished this due to their recent wins at IEM Fall 2021: CIS, which secured both of them a position in the top five of the CIS’ Regional Major Rankings by the end of the tournament. 

Gambit and Spirit are the second and third squads to have guaranteed that they’ll compete in this year’s CS:GO Major in the capital of Sweden. They join Natus Vincere, who were the only team to mathematically ensure their spot before the start of IEM Fall.

Spirit and Gambit, at the moment, are in second and third place in the CIS’ RMR, respectively. Looking at how the event has been going so far, they can’t be knocked out of the top five of the rankings, thus guaranteeing their slots in the Major. Only Virtus Pro and Entropiq can catch up with them.

But the insurance of knowing they’re going to Stockholm doesn’t mean that either Gambit or Spirit should let their guards down. The fourth and fifth-place teams from the CIS will only advance to the Contender stage of the Major, which is the first part of the tournament. The third seed will secure a slot in the Challenger stage, while the first two squads from the region will be given a place in the Major stage. If either of these teams want to start their Major campaigns in the later stages, they still have to fight for the best possible placing at IEM Fall. 

Neither Spirit nor Gambit are dominating at the event. The former lost today to Entropiq and the latter fell against VP, their direct rivals in the race for the region’s best spot at the Major. To secure a playoff spot at IEM Fall, and a bigger share of RMR points, both teams must try to turn things around tomorrow, the last day of the group stage.

The road to the next stage won’t be easy for Spirit, though. They’ll face Na’Vi, the current leaders of Group A and the best CS:GO team in the world according to HLTV’s rankings. The Russian-Ukrainian team almost certainly need a win since their opponents in the race for the playoffs, Entropiq, will play a seemingly weaker squad, Nemiga. On the other side, Gambit’s task doesn’t look as challenging since they’ll clash with Unique, the weakest competitor in Group B right now.

IEM Fall 2021: CIS returns tomorrow at 8:45am CT time. You can catch the last day of the group stage on ESL’s official streams on Twitch and YouTube.