Germany and Denmark are strong contenders for the gold.
After a stacked day of group stage matches, PGL Bucharest is ready to start with its round of eight. The opening day of the tournament saw numerous high-profile names drop out early, including G2 team-mates Thijs “ThijsNL” Molendijk and Radu “Rdu” Dima, as well as Aleksandr “Kolento” Malsh and IEM Katowice champion Esteban “AKAWonder” Serrano. With open qualifiers Vlad “Angeloshaggy” Dumitru and Cosmin “Drujbanul” Panfil out, the host country has also been completely eliminated from the running.
The results of the group stage have thus set up a Denmark versus Germany race in the playoffs. Simon “Crane” Raunholst, Nicklas “Tessin” Dittmer and Frederik “Hoej” Nielsen all survived their groups for a perfect record for their country. For Germany, GosuRanking leaders Sebastian “Xixo” Bentert and Jan “SuperJJ” Janssen will once again lead the offense, joined by Adrian “Lifecoach” Koy. Free agents Jon “Orange” Westberg and Stan Cifka complete the playoffs line-up.
A total of eight matches will be played today, giving more insight into what works best in PGL’s nine-deck meta. The group stage play saw unexpected decks and classes have a strong go, including G2’s Dragon Priest and Petar “Gaara” Stevanovic’s [card]Barnes[/card] / [card]Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound[/card] Hunter, which would otherwise be rare or downright unplayable in traditional formats. The tournament will complete on Sunday when the best player will take home $8,000 of the $25,000 prize pool.
