Team Yandex — PGL Wallachia Season 9 champion
The Team Yandex esports club proved stronger than Natus Vincere in the final series of PGL Wallachia Season 9. The grand final ended with a score of 3–0.
Throughout the tournament, Yandex did not lose a single series: the team entered the playoffs having lost only one map, and only Aurora Gaming prevented them from sweeping the bracket.
On the first map of the grand final, NAVI was forced to surrender before the barracks fell due to an unsuccessful team fight at the 25-minute mark. Unlike the previous map, Aske “Cy-” Larsen’s squad played with more confidence on the second map and held the upper hand for a long time, but faltered in the decisive team fights and suffered a defeat. In the third game, Natus Vincere was unable to stop Team Yandex’s momentum, and the series ended after the minimum number of maps required.
Results from the final day’s matches
- LGD Gaming 1:2 Natus Vincere;
- Team Yandex 3:0 Natus Vincere.
Team Yandex Roster
- Alimzhan “watson” Islambekov
- Ilya “CHIRA_JUNIOR” Chirtsov
- Ammar “ATF” al-Assaf
- Martin “Saksa” Sazdov
- Arman “Malady” Orazbaev
- Alexander “Accell” Litvinenko (coach)
Prize Pool Distribution
- 1st place — Team Yandex ($300,000);
- 2nd place — Natus Vincere ($175,000);
- 3rd place — LGD Gaming ($120,000);
- 4th place — Xtreme Gaming ($80,000);
- 5th–6th place — Aurora Gaming and GamerLegion ($60,000 each);
- 7th–8th place — Team Nemesis and 1w Team ($40,000 each);
- 9th–11th place — Pipsqueak+4, Conventus Stellarum, and MOUZ ($20,000 each);
- 12th–14th place — Team Cobra, Hokori, and Yakult Brothers ($15,000 each);
- 15th–16th place — Pibbles Corp and PlayTime (10,000 each).
PGL Wallachia Season 9 took place from September 19 to 27, with a total prize pool of $1 million—unlike other major tournaments, it was not divided into separate portions for clubs and players. The event was the first of the season for the Tier 1 scene, which is likely why some teams that hadn’t yet finalized their rosters may have skipped the competition.
Photo: PGL.
