From there, the top eight teams will advance to the playoffs, held in Cluj-Napoca's BT Arena, which is a 10,000 seat venue that previously hosted DreamHack's 2015 Majo, albiet under a different name. The participating teams include:
There are some notable absences that are spotted immediately, including Natus Vincere, Spirit, Vitality, and G2. Among the highlights of the event is MOUZ debuting with Lotan “Spinx” Giladi, who steps in for Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek. Additionally, Virtus.pro will see the return of Timur "FL4MUS" Marev, who previously missed out on the Katowice playoffs due to visa complications.
FURIA was part of the original lineup, but withdrew earlier this month. The decision comes on the heels of FURIA’s disappointing 13-16th place finish at IEM Katowice, and skipping this event could have repercussions for the team.
In response to FURA’s withdrawal, PGL extended an invitation to Imperial Valkyries (previously known as Imperial fe), the next team in Valve’s rankings, who accepted the offer. This will be their second major international LAN appearance after competing in the IEM Katowice Play-in, where they pushed FURIA to the limit on Mirage before falling 0-2. Their participation in Cluj-Napoca also explains their recent withdrawal from CCT Season 2 Europe Series 18, which overlaps with the Romanian event.
Due to this, PGL introduced a new rule alongside their tournament announcements: teams that accept an invitation but withdraw without a valid reason will be barred from receiving an invite to the next eligible PGL event.
PGL has opted for a bold all-best-of-three Swiss system for the group stage, ensuring a packed schedule with eight matches per day for the opening rounds. This format hasn’t been seen at a top-tier LAN since StarSeries Season 7 in 2019, where Natus Vincere claimed victory over fnatic. Additionally, the tournament will feature a third-place decider match, offering an extra $63,500 in prize money along the valuable VRS points that come with it.
The tournament kicks off on February 14, with five days of group-stage action followed by a brief two-day break before playoffs begin. All four quarterfinals will be played on February 21.
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