Former Major champion leads his team to PGL Astana

The first team to qualify for PGL Astana 2025 has been locked in, with HOTU booking their spot after a flawless run through the Asian qualifiers.

The Russian squad secured their place at the $1.25 million event by defeating JijieHao 3-0 in the grand final of the PGL Asia Closed Qualifier on Tuesday.

Former Major winner in charge

Leading HOTU as head coach is Rustem “mou” Telepov, a former PGL Krakow Major champion with Gambit. The Kazakh veteran guided his team through both the open and closed qualifiers without dropping a single map, finishing with an impressive 13-0 record.

This will be HOTU’s first big LAN appearance, where they will go up against top-tier teams such as NAVI, Spirit, G2, and Eternal Fire.

HOTU consists of the following squad: Re1GN, mizu, lampada, youka, kade0, and mou (head coach).

Both kade0 and mou are from Kazakhstan, meaning they will get to compete on home soil when PGL Astana kicks off next month.

Three tickets left

There are still three more teams to be confirmed for PGL Astana. The final deciding matches will be played later today across the European, South American, and North American qualifiers.

All times in CET:

16:00 – Ninjas in Pyjamas vs Metizport (Europe)
20:00 – Imperial vs ODDIK (South America)
00:00 – M80 vs BLUEJAYS (North America)

Attending teams | PGL Astana