Nemiga stun Vitality to reach PGL Masters Bucharest final

Nemiga have swept Vitality 2-0 in the PGL Masters Bucharest semi-final, winning Cache 13-8 and Dust2 13-11 to book a place in the final, HLTV reported.

Nikita "robo" Dushin led the series with 46 kills, a 101 ADR and a 1.52 rating, directing the underdogs past a Vitality side that had arrived in Bucharest missing both apEX and mezii from its usual starting responsibilities at various points of the event.

Nemiga raced to a 7-1 lead on Cache before Vitality clawed back four rounds to give themselves hope. That recovery never carried into the second half, and robo's 24 kills on the map helped close it out 13-8 while standing IGL William "mezii" Merriman managed only three frags and 49.6 ADR.

Mezii rediscovered his touch during Dust2, scoring four kills in a single round late in the first half as Vitality moved to an 8-4 lead. Nemiga chipped that advantage away after the break to level at 10-10, and when Vitality edged ahead once more it proved their last round of the match. Three consecutive rounds then sealed the sweep for Nemiga at 13-11, despite mezii closing the map with 22 kills and a 1.60 rating.

The win lifts Nemiga 56 VRS points to 1,645, moving them from 12th to 10th in the global ranking, a jump of 153 points and 13 places since the start of the event.

Vitality had reached the semi-final off the back of a 2-0 win over NAVI, a match notable for stand-in jL facing his former team for the first time since leaving the organisation in July, according to Esports.net. Vitality turned NAVI's own Inferno pick into a rout before recovering from 3-9 down on Dust2 to win ten straight rounds and close out the series. jL finished 13-5 with a 1.58 rating, with mezii sharper still at 19-9 and a 1.86 rating.

Esports.net also reported that jL, named as Vitality's substitute for BLAST Open Porto and PGL Masters Bucharest while apEX and mezii take paternity leave, triggers HLTV's five-game rule by playing a fifth map at the event. That is expected to make him, rather than apEX, the player who carries Vitality's PGL Major Singapore invite stickers.

NAVI's own route to facing Vitality had gone through eliminating world No.1 Team Spirit in a 2-2 Swiss-stage decider, Esports Insider reported, ending Spirit's run before the playoffs and handing NAVI their first win over the team since February 2025 after NAVI had dropped two straight series earlier in the event.

Nemiga's run as Bucharest's dark horse now puts them one match from the title, with the final representing the biggest result yet in a tournament where their ranking and prize standing have both moved sharply in a matter of days.