After an intense and extremely chaotic opening day, we moved into the first advancement matches. FlyQuest faced Fluxo and M80 played against NRG for two spots in the next stage — and for a significant boost of confidence.
Winning three starting matches at the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 is a nice achievement. Not only can two Stage 1 teams avoid later-round competition, which intensifies substantially, but they also send a message to their future opponents.
The chaos of Day 1 at the CS2 Budapest Major was caused by disappointing technical issues. Long delays, even in the middle of matches, and inconsistent streams certainly affected the viewing experience. That could also apply unnecessary pressure on the teams.
Still, four of the Major Stage 1 participants finished those two rounds with no losses: FlyQuest, Fluxo, M80, and NRG. Only two could continue this streak and advance to Stage 2 undefeated.
Stream: FlyQuest vs Fluxo and M80 vs NRG at the CS2 Budapest Major
Two advancement matches of Round 3 Stage 1 completed the tournament day on Nov. 25. You can watch FLY versus Fluxo and M80 versus NRG on Stream A of the CS2 StarLadder Major 2025 in Budapest.
FlyQuest versus Fluxo: Match details and recap
The peak performance for FlyQuest in 2025 was arguably IEM Melbourne 2025, where the players had a notable win in front of the home crowd. Then, FlyQuest could not achieve anything big in tier 1 tournaments.
Still, at the Budapest Major 2025, FlyQuest won two opening matches over Legacy and Imperial. Taking down Legacy is a pretty big deal, as these opponents have had good tournament results this season and are considered the Stage 1 favorites. At the same time, we know how FLY can go 2:3 in Swiss Stages, as it was in the Austin Major.
After the Austin Major, where Fluxo won no matches, this team retreated to the tier 2/3 realm. They appeared at the EPL Season 22 to win one match over NRG, lose three, and get eliminated.
In Budapest, Fluxo defeated GamerLegion and Fnatic in the first two Swiss rounds. This is quite promising.
FlyQuest vs Fluxo — Score, maps, and stats
| Match score | Map 1 | Map 2 | Map 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overpass, Fluxo pick | Inferno, FLY pick | Train, decider | |
| FLY 2:0 Fluxo | 13:1 | 13:3 | – |
FLY literally destroyed Fluxo in this CS2 Major advancement match. It was a great showcase of FlyQuest’s power — let’s put it this way, to not cast a shadow on their opponents.
On Overpass, Fluxo took one round, which is the current anti-record in Budapest. It’s not easy to beat that. It was a lot about personal skills, like a 1v1 in round 14, where MAC-10 of Joshua “INS” Potter from FlyQuest player won over Scout of Romeu “zevy” Rocco from Fluxo: at a sniper-rifle distance.
On Inferno, FlyQuest continued the round streak and made it 7:0 before Fluxo could do something. After winning three rounds in total, Fluxo still fell apart. FLY won the final round over Fluxo from a man disadvantage, which, in a way, reflects this map on the CS2 Budapest Major.
It really is a nice statement by FlyQuest! However, with no proper resistance, we need to see what the team is capable of in Stage 2, against other opponents.
M80 versus NRG: Match details and recap
This season, M80 managed to qualify for BLAST Open Fall 2025 after defeating NAVI and Fnatic. They won no matches in the main event, though. At the ESL Pro League Season 22, M80 defeated the team Rooster, which did not make it to the list of the Budapest Major participants.
To reach the Stage 1 Round 3 advancement match, M80 defeated B8 and PARIVISION.
Right before the major, NRG won the lower-tier event ESL Challenger League Season 50: North America. Their recent S-tier presence includes EPL S22 with three losses out of three matches. At the Austin Major, NRG defeated TYLOO and Complexity in Stage 1.
NRG had a substitute player during the CS2 StarLadder Budapest Major 2025, with coach Damian “daps ” Steele competing instead of Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella. With this version of the roster, NRG won their opening matches against NiP and FaZe — well, this already is a good result!
M80 vs NRG — Score, maps, and stats
| Match score | Map 1 | Map 2 | Map 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dust II, M80 pick | Mirage, NRG pick | Train, decider | |
| M80 2:0 NRG | 13:7 | 13:2 | – |
M80 won this match with great confidence!
On Mirage, they finished the first half with a 10:2! After that, NRG could take the pistols and a few more pretty good rounds. Still, M80 needed just very little to close this map.
On Train, NRG looked almost helpless. They were close to repeating Fluxo’s disaster, but did slightly better. Still, having that one extra round is unlikely to feel good.
M80 advance to Stage 2 to face bigger fish in the pool of StarLadder Major 2025 participants.
Have you got these teams in your Pick’Ems at the Budapest Major?
Even losers of these two advancement matches can still make it to Stage 2. They have two more chances on Nov. 26 and Nov. 27.