HOTU clears PGL Bucharest Asia Open Qualifier #2

The second Asian qualifier for PGL Bucharest 2025 came to close yesterday with HOTU- a team with a Russian core, going six for six, winning out the singe-elimination bracket. HOTU have now booked their closed qualifier slot alongside Team Eruption who made it through the first open qualifier.

The second open qualifier began yesterday with most of the teams getting a bye in the first round. Indian teams Orgless5 and VICTORES SUMUS were up against Mongolian team ST4X and Bangladeshi team Red Viperz.

Orgless5 made short work of ST4X in their opening game, as the Mongolians struggled to keep up with the Indian side's firepower. clouda fragged out for Orgless5 going 22-9 on Ancient with a 67% success rate in opening duels. The one sided affair quickly ended with Orgless5 picking up a comfortable 13-4 win, eliminating ST4X.

VICTORES SUMUS on the other hand got a run for their money in their opening game against Red Viperz. VICTORES SUMUS too started their campaign on Ancient. Having recovered from a shaky start, ksi3 and Mantis27 opened up rounds for Red Viperz, quickly closing the gap and hitting double-figures. However, VICTORES SUMUS didn't let things get out of hand and closed Ancient 13-10, advancing to the next round.

Orgless5 squared up against HOTU in their next game and right out the gate, the difference was glaring. clouda, who spearheaded Orgless5's win in the first round wasn't as effective against the Russians. Going into Anubis, clouda still managed to have a high success rate in opening duels but would often get traded out, removing him early in the round.

Orgless5 lacked contributions across the board as ember and DEFAULTER never really showed up on Anubis, however in stark contrast, mizucze went all out for HOTU, dropping 24 frags in the map, pushing HOTU into the next round with a 13-7 win over Orgless5 as DEFAULTER and co. ended their PGL Bucharest Asia Open Qualifier #2 run in the third round.

VICTORES SUMUS also played their second round on Anubis. Taking on NomadS, the Indian side had to step up their game to stand a chance against the Mongolians. Their star player in the first match, Recoilmastr completely disappeared on Anubis, landing just 3 frags throughout the match and to add to VICTORES SUMUS's woes RaYzeR stayed on 2 frags throughout the game.

A well rounded team effort from NomadS, proved to be a blowout for VICTORES SUMUS, as the Indian side conceded a crushing 3-13 defeat, crashing out of the PGL Bucharest Asia Open Qualifier #2 in the third round with a single win to their name. NomadS followed it up with a couple of convincing wins to make it to the final where they fell short.

After their win against Orgless5, HOTU survived a close overtime game against VIZORA Esports, where mizucze was once again the star of the show, pulling HOTU across the line 16-14 with his 30-frags performance. HOTU then took down STEEL with a clean 2-0 to set up their qualification match in the final against NomadS.

What was initially set to be a bo3, was cut short after the first map. Starting on the CT-side of Anubis, HOTU put up a respectable 6-6 half, setting themselves up for the dominant side. Once the sides switched, HOTU went ballistic on the T-side dropping just a single round, to claim a 13-7 win and book their spot in the closed qualifier.