Some tournament favorites got potentially easy opponents. Others start this CS2 esports Major with a good challenge. In both cases, fans should be happy with the opening competition of Stage 3.
With all the excitement of the original stages, the full power of a Counter-Strike Major reveals itself with the final set of Swiss System matches. The best teams in the world jump into the server to deliver mighty shots and state their ambitions on the main trophy.
The draw of Round 1 has prepared really interesting matchups. The two biggest Major favorites face very strong teams, and these matches are a great chance to see their form: FURIA and Team Vitality. We also highlight two other battles in this article: MOUZ and Falcons should dominate their opening matches if they really aim to win the event.
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MOUZ vs PARAVISION
Map bans | Map 1 | Match score |
|---|---|---|
| Nuke, PAR Inferno, PAR Dust II, MOUZ Ancient, MOUZ Mirage, MOUZ Train, PAR | Overpass | MOUZ 1:0 PAR |
| MOUZ 16:14 PAR |
For MOUZ, facing PARAVISION is a nice way to warm up and enter the tournament mode. Despite being one of the breakthrough teams in Stages 1 and 2, these opponents shouldn't be a problem — unless MOUZ players are experiencing big issues.
- MOUZ won this match, but the opponents made the giants bleed.
"The beginning of a Major is always a lot of nerves, and the match showed this. We played like at 70% of our level. Actually, it was expected, as this is our first official in a while, as we missed out [BLAST Rivals] Hong Kong.
No excuses, I'm really happy that we've got the win. I feel like they were shooting very hard. It was really difficult for us to close up the situation. Yeah, I'm happy with it."
The favorites took the pistols, but then they lost the initiative and advantage. MOUZ were in the chasing position for almost the entire match. They needed to force the first overtime when the opponents got the match point. Also, MOUZ needed to recover from 12:14 — it was a good streak, as they lost no rounds after that point.
Ever-so-evasive trophies
In the first half of 2025, MOUZ were cursed to be stopped by Vitality in the final matches of big tournaments. They often were one step away from a trophy, and couldn't grab it.
In the second half of the year, MOUZ finally learned to beat their demons but some other obstacles rose up. The team regularly reaches the top 2 and top 4, but has had no #1 placements so far. The Budapest Major can be different, and Stage 3 is a chance for MOUZ to prove they are ready.
Vitality vs FaZe
Map bans | Map 1 | Match score |
|---|---|---|
| Train, FaZe Dust II, FaZe Ancient, Vitality Mirage, Vitality Inferno, Vitality Overpass, FaZe | Nuke | Vitality 0:1 FaZe |
| Vitality 7:13 FaZe |
After the troublesome run in Stage 1, FaZe seemingly recovered and finished Stage 2 with a 3:0. Who could be a better challenge for Vitality to test if they are in the Major mode?
- FaZe continued the momentum from Stage 2 and defeated Vitality on Nuke. It felt like the opponents did not wake up for the start of the Major.
"That 3:0 in Stage 2 was kind of helpful, I would say. We are riding on the confident wave at the moment. Beating Vitality, meeting them in the first game — I was personally looking forward to it.
In other stages we also started 0:1, and it's still a lot of games ahead of us. We just need to be humble, keep working. Obviously, it's a great start, but job is not done."
FaZe started on the T side and finished the first half with a 7:5 advantage. It could be even bigger, but apEX went for a ninja defuse in smoke and managed to succeed.
After moving to the disadvantageous side themselves, Vitality couldn’t put their game together and won only two rounds.
There were some excellent stealth moves from both teams, like Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken hunting for victims from the back of Dan "apEX" Madesclaire.
In general, FaZe won most of the interactions — especially thanks to the amazing play by frozen and Jakub "jcobbb" Pietruszewski. Just take a look at their numbers below.
Echoes of the full dominance
Team Vitality won all the CS2 esports tournaments they participated in — it was the vibes in the first half of 2025. After claiming the Austin Major title, Vitality slowed down substantially.
They still won the ESL Pro League 2025, but beyond that, Vitality were stopped by different opponents, like MOUZ, FURIA, and Falcons.
Some communication issues were highlighted in post-match interviews by apEX. He talked about this problem at BLAST Rivals Fall 2025, right before the tournament in Budapest. Even in Stage 3, the Major favorites can show how they have improved this aspect.
Falcons vs B8
Map bans | Map 1 | Match score |
|---|---|---|
| Nuke, B8 Dust II, B8 Overpass, Falcons Mirage, Falcons Inferno, Falcons Train, B8 | Ancient | Falcons 0:1 B8 |
| Falcons 10:13 B8 |
In theory, Team Falcons should beat B8 with no problems. Practically, we saw them losing to these opponents in the opening match of the Austin Major. However, Falcons were in a different form back then.
- B8 defeated Team Falcons: it's their second win against these opponents in a Bo1 at a Major. Also, it's arguably the biggest blow from underdogs at the favorites in Round 1 of CS2 Budapest Major Stage 3.
Hopes for tournament wins
The legendary Counter-Strike coach Danny "zonic" Sørensen has been working on building another successful team for a pretty long time already. His progress with various players in Team Falcons is clearly notable: lots of top placements. Still, Falcons can’t achieve really big tournament wins.
They were close to this at BLAST Rivals Fall 2025 in Hong Kong. Team Falcons demonstrated amazing progress with fresh additions to the roster. FURIA were still better.
Propelling themselves to the Major’s Playoffs from Stage 3 would be a nice boost of confidence for Team Falcons as one of the tournament favorites.
FURIA vs NAVI
Map bans | Map 1 | Match score |
|---|---|---|
| Overpass, NAVI Inferno, NAVI Ancient, FURIA Mirage, FURIA Train, FURIA Dust II, NAVI | Nuke | FURIA 1:0 NAVI |
| FURIA 13:2 NAVI |
It’s arguably the most interesting and unpredictable match of Round 1. NAVI can also be named the Major favorites, and Stage 3 gives them a chance to defend this status. The team made it from Stage 2 with three confident wins, but no opponents were as strong as FURIA.
- FURIA absolutely destroyed NAVI in their opening match of the Budapest Major.
The final statement by FalleN?
After winning BLAST Rivals in Hong Kong, Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo revealed his previous plans to retire from playing Counter-Strike professionally. Still, he said that the current results of FURIA can make him adjust this intention: as everything goes really well for the team.
FURIA players are in the middle of an impressive win streak. They started with a rather small FISSURE Playground #2 and got such big victories as IEM Chengdu and BLAST Rivals Fall.
The Budapest Major win would be a great achievement for FalleN, regardless of his further career. As the top favorites, FURIA should have no issues with marching through the Major’s Stage 3, including the match versus NAVI.
The best-of-one opening matches can give a nice boost for the winners. Still, it’s not a guaranteed Playoffs qualification. The losers will have their chances in the following rounds, too.
Stage 3 of the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 continues until Dec. 7. The final-bracket matches start on Dec. 11.
