What does BLAST Rivals Hong Kong predict for the Budapest Major?
FURIA has emerged victorious in BLAST Rivals Hong Kong (BLAST Rivals Fall 2025), overcoming Team Falcons to take the trophy.
With other high-profile rosters, notably Team Spirit, Team Vitality, and The MongolZ, also competing, what did BLAST Rivals indicate about potential successes and stumbles at the upcoming Starladder Budapest Major?
FURIA walks away with yet another trophy in BLAST Rivals Hong Kong
A mere week after FURIA won a landmark IEM trophy in Chengdu, the roster has gained yet another tournament victory at BLAST Rivals Hong Kong.
Gradually increasing their strength throughout 2025, they have become a formidable team ahead of the Budapest Major.
The FURIA roster has struck the perfect balance between young talent and seasoned experience. However, their Grand Final opponents, Team Falcons, are still struggling to establish the same cross-generational unity.
Despite a 3-13 loss on Map 1 (Inferno), FURIA were able to rise above Falcons on Nuke (13-9), Train (19-15) and Mirage (19-16), including winning two overtimes.
Each time the pressure of overtime arose, FURIA outperformed their opponent.
In these overtimes, the Brazilian roster appeared more coordinated in their push for the finish line. However, Team Falcons did not pull together the clutch performance necessary in the final rounds.
Community reactions to the BLAST Rivals Hong Kong Grand Final only cemented this difference.
Many commented on how they felt Ilya ‘m0NESY’ Osipov and Damjan ‘kyxsan’ Stoilkovski are particularly limited by their teammates on the roster. Meanwhile, others expressed that they think, Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač is a particularly heavy weight holding the roster back.
Who are the heavy-hitters from BLAST Rivals transitioning into the Budapest Major?
Given their back-to-back trophies at IEM Chengdu and BLAST Rivals Hong Kong, FURIA are naturally well-favoured in the upcoming Budapest Major.
However, their Grand Final companions will be under far greater pressure to perform.
Some fans are even weighting the success of the entire Team Falcons Counter-Strike project on their Budapest results.
Team Falcons’ shock early elimination in the Austin Major earlier this year left a dark mark on the star-studded roster’s record. With only one match win and losses to B8, Lynn Vision Gaming, and MIBR, they finished in a crushing 20th-22nd place, failing to reach Stage 3.
They were undoubtedly able to establish far better consistency during BLAST Rivals. Before the Grand Final, they had not dropped a single map.
However, even with a clean sheet behind them, they could not perform when it mattered the most. Therefore, some doubts will remain regarding their Major capabilities.
What happened to Team Vitality, Team Spirit, and The MongolZ?
Team Vitality, Team Spirit, and The MongolZ all had a less-than-desirable experience at BLAST Rivals Hong Kong.
The MongolZ, in particular, were unexpectedly slammed with an early Day Two elimination after Day One saw underdog teams rise, unseating and unsettling teams we have come to know as Champions.
Losing to both Passion UA and Team Spirit, they did not exit the Group Stage.
However, Team Spirit did not last for much longer. They faced Team Vitality in the Quarterfinal, losing the best-of-three 1-2.
Continuing the pattern, Team Vitality was eliminated only one day later by Team Falcons in a 0-2 loss.
The MongolZ won the Esports World Cup Counter-Strike event, and Team Spirit won IEM Cologne. However, both have struggled to find their feet amidst post-victory roster changes. Team Vitality, on the other hand, have fallen from a much higher height in late 2025.
At the beginning of the year, Team Vitality were quite literally unbeatable. Eight consecutive trophies marked what many thought was “the Team Vitality era.”
Despite their dominance, Team Vitality began to falter after winning the Austin Major.
Repeatedly progressing through Playoffs but failing to clutch trophies became their new normal. BLAST Rivals Hong Kong only repeats this new habit.
Losing a best-of-three 0-2 to Team Falcons, who they used to defeat with ease, only further questions their ability to secure another 2025 Major.
With three Group Stages, 32 teams, and a lot on the line, only the Starladder Budapest Major itself will tell if any of these Counter-Strike rosters will climb to the top.
Nevertheless, BLAST Rivals gave fans much to consider.
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