FaZe Clan survive early elimination scare at StarLadder Budapest Major

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 26/11/2025

FaZe Clan narrowly survived elimination and avoided embarrassment after defeating RED Canids 2-1 at the StarLadder Budapest Counter-Strike 2 Major.

FaZe were expected to breeze through the early stages, especially after dominating Lynn Vision 13-5 on the opening day.

However, FaZe found themselves facing elimination from StarLadder Budapest after dropping into the 1-2 bracket.

But FaZe have kept themselves in Stage 1 after reverse sweeping RED Canids following an intense overtime on Map 2.

FaZe lose their own map pick

It was a nightmare start for FaZe as they lost the opening game on Mirage, their only map pick.

FaZe were favourites to defeat RED Canids, but immediately found themselves in trouble after losing seven rounds on CT side.

RED were 3-9 up at the halfway point and were in firm control, though FaZe then won a pistol round to make the score a little closer.

Still, RED Canids took Mirage 13-7 with Allan ‘history’ Lawrenz the star man, picking up 8 AWP kills and the highest rating at 1.47.

FaZe bounce back in 36-round thriller

After the dominant win, it looked like FaZe and their refreshed line-up were going to suffer an embarrassingly early elimination.

But they bounced back well in the opening rounds on Nuke and found themselves with a 6-3 lead as David ‘Frozen’ Čerňanský maintained his impressive form.

However, FaZe bottled that lead and ended up at a 6-6 deadlock at the halfway point and RED Canids began to grow in confidence again.

Clutches from Richard ‘chayJESUS⁠’ Seidy and André ‘drop⁠’ Abreu had FaZe fearing elimination again at 7-10.

But, FaZe held their nerve and eventually a last-minute defuse by IGL Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen forced the overtime.

Still, it was RED Canids who dominated the start of overtime and rushed to a 15-12 lead.

Yet, the Brazilian team missed out on all three opportunities to finish the series as FaZe won three consecutive rounds to stay in the tournament.

Triple kills in back-to-back rounds from frozen kept FaZe alive, and the Slovakian eventually helped his team limp to a 17-19 win in double overtime.

frozen’s monstrous performance saw him pick up 39 kills, 11 first kills, 112.2 average damage, and a 1.96 rating.

FaZe finally wake up and eliminate RED Canids

That double overtime was apparently the wake-up call FaZe needed as they finally looked convincing on Map 3.

FaZe capitalised on missed shots from history to dominate Inferno and eventually win 13-5 to take the series.

history was fragging well on Inferno, picking up the most kills (15), first kills (4), and AWP kills (8) but his missed shots and his team’s sloppy defending cost the team.

It means RED Canids have now been eliminated, while FaZe remain in the tournament and have the chance to advance to Stage 2.

Meanwhile, Ninjas in Pyjamas and B8 have already qualified for Stage 2 of Starladder Budapest, amongst a few other teams.

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

In my seven years of esports writing, I've introduced esports coverage to newspapers, interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry, and driven viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I'm most proud of the latter.

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