It took FaZe two tournament days to fall from the Budapest Major Stage 1 favorites to one of the teams in the elimination zone. There was no more space for errors, as their each next step could be fatal.
After a normal tournament start, FaZe Clan surprisingly lost two matches in Stage 1 of the CS2 StarLadder Budapest Major 2025. Things that made the situation worse for the team and for the fans include the opponents’ level and the general performance of FaZe players.
The first win was over Lynn Vision. Considering the team got eliminated in Round 3, it’s not an achievement for FaZe.
The following matches were against NRG and Ninjas in Pyjamas. NRG have their coach replacing Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella for this CS2 esports event. A loss to such a roster can’t feel good. NiP have had little presence at tier 1 tournaments, and their placements there are not too high.
Dropping these supposed-to-win matches left FaZe Clan with no more space for misstep. They had two matches left in the Budapest Major Stage 1, and the community’s eyes were on these elimination battles.
Match 1: FaZe vs RED Canids at the Budapest Major Stage 1
It’s an elimination match of Round 4. FaZe Clan and RED Canids have to secure two maps to keep battling in Stage 1 of the CS2 Major 2025 in Budapest.
Match Score | Map 1 | Map 2 | Map 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mirage, FaZe pick | Nuke, RED pick | Inferno, decider | |
| FaZe 2:1 RED | 7:13 | 17:19 | 13:5 |
RED Canids were really close to taking down FaZe at the Budapest Major and eliminating them from Stage 1. They won Mirage with a seven-round streak on the CT side and a 9:3 in the first half. RED Canids made Nuke sweaty for FaZe: two overtimes and elimination points.
On Inferno, FaZe finally looked like themselves. They overplayed their opponents, specifically with the util usage on Banana. On the T side, RED Canids got damaged and killed even before the proper battle began.
FaZe looked better on the personal level as well — but specifically on Map 3, like the final 1v1 retake by David "frozen" Čerňanský. This guy was the moving power on Nuke as well.
"[on Nuke], I don't now, they just kept dying on my screen. [...] On Inferno, I think we just started to get the breath. We were in control almost all the time. Feels great to get such a confident win at the end. Majors in general can be surprising. In some way, I expected it to be hard. But I didn't expect us to be on the verge of elimination."
With all the sentiments about FaZe Clan surviving this match, let's not forget RED Canids: their awesome play in Budapest and the potential these players have in the future CS2 esports tournaments.
The first-ever CS2 Major for RED Canids
This team qualified for the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 thanks to their regional standings in the Americas. Despite playing in a few other qualifying tournaments, RED Canids have never hit a Counter-Strike Major before.
Even their tier 2 and 3 performance is not too brilliant: 2nd and 3rd placements are the highest achievements.
With this being said, seeing RED Canids in Round 4 is already surprising. They defeated GamerLegion, and it’s a great result for RED Canids! As for losses, there was a 14:16 overtime against Fnatic and a 13:6 against Legacy. All these teams are strong opponents for RED Canids.
Match 2: FaZe vs Fluxo in the final round of the CS2 Major’s Stage 1
Fluxo became the final opponent for FaZe in Stage 1 of the CS2 Budapest Major. It felt like another favorable matchup for FaZe: one more rather small team from Brazil.
For Fluxo, it’s already their third attempt to make it to Stage 2: after winning two opening matches and having a chance of a perfect run at the tournament.
Match Score | Map 1 | Map 2 | Map 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inferno, FaZe pick | Nuke, Fluxo pick | Mirage, decider | |
| FaZe 2:1 Fluxo | 13:6 | 7:13 | 13:10 |
FaZe won the match and advanced to Stage 2 of the Budapest Major, but it still isn't a joyful victory for the fans. The team was on a rollercoaster. One moment, FaZe players were super strong, eliminating their opponents. Next moment, they fell apart, losing duels and looking disjointed. The stronger selves woke up at the end of this match versus Fluxo.
Map 1 was alright for FaZe. They had an advantage in the first half and had a nice five-round streak to seal the deal in the second.
On Nuke, FaZe had flashbacks of their match versus RED Canids. This time, frozen couldn't carry his team. Fluxo had a very good T-side on this CT-favored map, and they had a wonderful blast as Counter-Terrorist.
On Mirage, Fluxo had a few really great rounds, so they had a 10:4 advantage at some point. That was a moment for FaZe to unleash their magic. Yes, after a nine-round streak, FaZe Clan boosted themselves to the next tournament stage.
Fluxo players certainly deserve some more attention. It's not easy to lose this way, but they certainly showed a decent competitive spirit. This match versus FaZe, and this tournament in general, is a great experience that can lead Fluxo to further success.
FaZe Clan advance to Stage at CS2 StarLadder Budapest Major 2025
The team survived this elimination thread. It's a different story to see if FaZe are ready to face bigger opponents at the Major.
"We had some good results in the bootcamp, in the practice. Going to the Major, we wanted to show what we could do in the practice. It did not work out in Stage 1, and hopefully we can do it in Stage 2. It doesn't really matter which team you play, lower tier or higher tier. We can always show up and play good Counter-Strike."
An unfortunate breakthrough attempt for Fluxo
The team did not get easy opponents at the Major, and Fluxo still had good wins.
The best-of-one section was good for them: Fluxo defeated GamerLegion and Fnatic. However, two advancement matches did not go well. FlyQuest absolutely destroyed Fluxo: with 13:1 and 13:3 scores on two maps. The match against NiP was slightly more competitive but with the same result.
Fluxo players have decent regional placements. With some more presence at big international events, they may unleash their true potential.
Dry FaZe without rain
Even putting the opponents’ level aside, FaZe’s performance was disappointing at the Budapest Major, at least in the starting rounds of Stage 1.
Losing Håvard "rain" Nygaard never felt like a good move for the organization. After two big tournaments without this Counter-Strike legend, it becomes almost disastrous.
- FaZe Clan had the last lucky chance to play with rain at the EPL Season 22, and they reached the top 4.
- At IEM Chengdu 2025, FaZe played two matches, lost both, and got eliminated.
- The struggles of FaZe at the Budapest Major weren’t on many people’s Pick’Em cards, but they are pretty real so early into the event.
Jakub “jcobbb” Pietruszewski replaced rain, and it would be easy to blame him. However, the issue is somewhat deeper. Even much earlier this year, when Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski played for FaZe, he reported struggles of the team to recover from bad rounds.
At the Budapest Major, FaZe looked dry. The community loves this team for their innovative approaches. Finn “karrigan” Andersen is usually great at making fake moves on the maps, so that FaZe strike unexpectedly. That wasn’t the case at this event.
Specifically in the match versus Ninjas in Pyjamas, FaZe tried to follow pretty obvious patterns. Sure, they got severely punished for this.
The “FaZe factor” is still a great power! The team should reach their better form sooner or later, even if more roster adjustments are needed for this.
