StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 Stage 2 preview – NaVi, Liquid, and Astralis join Major as FaZe look to rally from Stage 1 struggles
After the dramatic end to Stage 1 of the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025, Esports News UK looks forward to Stage 2 of the Major.
Stage 2 sees fan-favourite teams, Astralis, Navi, Liquid and Aurora, enter the Major, joining FaZe Clan, who barely made it to Stage 2.
StarLadder Budapest Stage 2 opening matches
- 12:00 (GMT): Astralis vs Ninjas in Pyjamas
- 12:00: 3DMAX vs Fnatic
- 13:00: FaZe vs Passion UA
- 13:00: Tyloo vs Parivision
- 14:00: NaVi vs FlyQuest
- 14:00: Aurora vs M80
- 15:00: MIBR vs Imperial
- 15:00: Liquid vs B8
Counter-Strike elite arrive in Stage 2 – How do they look coming into Major?
Aurora:
Aurora comes into Stage 2 of the Major as the highest-ranked team, currently Number 5 in the VRS.
They sit there, having won their most recent event at PGL Masters Bucharest, a field where they were the highest-ranked team.
The roster was somewhat expected to win the event, but their lack of LAN trophies made the victory a significant landmark for the roster, with many hoping they can push on after that success.
Yet that success was deeply flawed, almost losing to Astralis with a substitute and coach stand-in, and surrendering a 2-0 lead to eventually win 3-2 in the Grand Final versus Legacy.
When previewing the Major, Janko ‘YNk’ Paunović told Esports News UK, “If Legacy was able to reverse sweep and beat them there, they would have changed something after the major. It feels like it would have been the final nail in the coffin for the lineup.”
Ultimately, that did not happen, and Aurora won the event despite shaky moments.
Prediction: Extremely likely to advance
Natus Vincere:
NaVi are in a weird spot at this Major. The team feels at a dead end coming into the StarLadder Budapest Major, and offseason changes feel somewhat inevitable.
If that statement feels familiar, it may be because it echoes what many thought prior to their PGL Copenhagen Major 2024 victory.
Many NaVi fans will want another miracle, where coach Andrii ”B1ad3′ Horodenskyi has drilled in the winning formula to his team of unlikely heroes.
That’s wishful thinking this time around. The team that used to be summarised as ‘more than the sum of its parts’ has regressed to a disjointed jigsaw.
b1ad3 said this Major would be the real test for the Major; after IEM Chengdu losses to Astralis and Heroic, it may be a test they will flunk.
That being said, besides their Astralis losing streak, the team rarely lose to teams they really should beat. Progression is likely here, but those Copenhagen memories, or even a playoff berth like in Austin, seem unlikely.
Prediction: Likely to advance
Liquid:
Two months after Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablonowski’s return to Liquid, it doesn’t feel like we’ve seen them play much.
A third-place finish at the CS Asia Championships was par for the course; Their Bucharest run had a disappointing end against SAW, but fans were generally happy to accept a failure so early in the project.
However, there has to be a time when a team starts delivering. As the culmination of the season, it has to be here for Liquid.
The Major will answer a lot of questions surrounding Liquid: Whether coach Viktor ‘flashie’ Tamás Bea can instil a consistent playstyle in the roster, whether EliGE can put up the numbers necessary to carry the roster, and whether Guy ‘NertZ’ Iluz is worth keeping, to name a few.
The team has what it takes to easily advance, but they also don’t have a high floor. Their map pool is strong at the top end, but incredibly weak at the bottom, winning only one of their last seven Train contests.
At the very least, they will be one of the most interesting teams to watch in Budapest, as we can finally judge their progress definitively.
Prediction: Likely to advance
Astralis:
“Astralis just seems kind of broken at the moment,” was YNk’s verdict on the Astralis roster, who have now had almost three months with Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif standing in for the absent star, Martin ‘stavn’ Lund.
So soon after the announcement of the retirement of Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander, one cannot help but look back on that dominant Astralis roster and see how far they’ve fallen.
The team is lacking in firepower, and the structure is generally unbalanced due to stavn’s absence. Worst of all, they are not playing with joy.
YNk stated, “Astralis, currently, you can just tell something is really off. When a team isn’t necessarily cheering when they have good moments, and someone has a big clutch, that’s not normal for a team where everything is fine.”
The roster may simply be waiting for the end of the year, knowing their current composition is not forever, but the team has still scored strong wins against Legacy, 3DMAX, NaVi, The MongolZ, and MIBR lately, half of which are in this stage.
Like NaVi, they are another team capable of advancing but unlikely to go further, and advancing depends on their own motivation to do so.
Prediction: Strong chance of advancing
3DMAX:
3DMAX has been just below the top 10 all year in the VRS, and deservedly so. The roster had largely been consistent and pushed top opposition regularly.
That is, until the last two events. PGL Masters Bucharest and IEM Chengdu were poor results for the French roster, who looked thoroughly depleted after three visits to China in the space of two months.
At the time, their attendance at CS Asia Championships looked like a rational choice, as they were the top-ranked team at the event, but a Grand Final loss meant they got none of the silverware and all of the fatigue.
In normal circumstances, 3DMAX have shown the ability to advance through Stage 2 fairly comfortably, but the question will be whether they have recovered from that accumulation of travel and officials.
Prediction: Strong chance of advancing
Tyloo:
Tyloo’s season started with all the promise in the world as the roster took the trophy at Fissure Playground 1, giving Chinese fans hope that Tyloo would once again be the flagbearers of a strong Chinese roster.
Looking back, the result looks somewhat anomalous. Besides a win versus Astralis at the Esports World Cup 2025, it’s hard to even point to a single positive result for the roster since then.
The team finished 12th-14th at Fissure Playground 2, 9th-12th at their home event in the CS Asia Championships, and dead last at their last two events in IEM Chengdu and BLAST Rivals Season 2.
There’s just not much to get excited about with Tyloo at the moment, besides the individual level of Yi ‘JamYoung’ Yang.
The roster left Austin at Stage 2, and seems likely to be eliminated from Budapest at the same stage.
Prediction: Unlikely to advance
Passion UA:
One of the weakest teams entering directly at Stage 2, the American core have shown few positive signs in recent weeks or months.
The roster benefited from the GMing of Graham ‘messioso’ Pitt, an expert in the ways of the VRS, to target LANs around Major qualification.
Subsequently, the team won Urban Riga Open Season 1 in a weak field, finishing 2nd then 3rd at successive DraculaNs.
But, the team also finished a disappointing 5th-6th at StarSeries in a fairly understrength eight-team event, and 7th-8th in DraculaN’s first event.
The one ray of hope came at BLAST Rivals Season 2, where they defeated The MongolZ, albeit in their second event with Unudelger ‘controlez’ Baasanjargal.
Their form is poor, their team composition uninspiring. I don’t see them making it out of Stage 2.
Prediction: Unlikely to advance
MIBR:
MIBR have become the worst thing in Counter-Strike: A team which is boring to talk about.
The roster was plagued for years by its inability to secure the top Brazilian talent, in a scene which has traditionally had extremely high buyouts, and an unwillingness to sell to regional rivals.
As such, Felipe ‘insani’ Yuji was stuck in an MIBR team that really went nowhere, despite his immense talents.
Furia managed to break out of that pattern by capturing EU talent, and MIBR attempted to do the same in signing Klimentii ‘kl1m’ Krivosheev and Rio Major winner, Aleksei ‘Qikert’ Golubev.
Those signings have not really changed MIBR’s international standing, winning only one match at the CS Asia Championships and going 0-3 at the PGL Masters Bucharest.
The good news for MIBR is that they have an opening match, which is in their wheelhouse, a contest against regional rivals Imperial.
For all their flaws, the roster is still dominating the local scene, winning FERjEE Rush and Circuit X South America Season 1 in succession.
Prediction: Unlikely to advance
Can the Stage 1 teams go further?
This section focuses on the form the teams showed at Stage 1.
To see an in-depth view of all Stage 1 teams, you can see ENUK’s Stage 1 preview.
FlyQuest:
Major record so far (3-0):
- FlyQuest 13-10 Legacy
- FlyQuest 13-6 Imperial
- FlyQuest 2- 0 Fluxo
FlyQuest breezed through Stage 1, backing up the form they showed at PGL Masters Bucharest, where they beat Fnatic and 3DMAX.
Fluxo was a favourable 2-0 match, but the victory was still an important mental boost for a roster that has often ended Day 1 on 2-0 only to fall to 2-3.
Benefitting from Joshua ‘INS’ Potter’s IGLing and AWPer, Iulian ‘regali’ Harjău, looking in fine form, they have a strong chance of keeping up the form against Stage 2 opposition, such as Fnatic or 3DMAX.
Prediction: Strong chance of advancing
M80:
Major record so far (3-0):
- M80 13-11 B8
- M80 13-9 Parivision
- M80 2-0 NRG
M80 beat two teams, in B8 and Parivision, who went on to advance. That’s a good sign for the American roster, which exited at Stage 2 of the Austin Major.
Yet in those victories, they had their substantial leads whittled down to moderate leads before they converted the opportunities.
A Bo3 against NRG with a stand-in was a clear path to Stage 2, but M80 will want to make sure that when they are under pressure, they keep playing with confidence.
Undoubtedly, they will be under more pressure in Stage 2, starting with Aurora.
Prediction: Strong chance of advancing
Ninjas in Pyjamas:
Major record so far (3-1):
- Ninjas in Pyjamas 7-13 NRG
- Ninjas in Pyjamas 13-2 Lynn Vision
- Ninjas in Pyjamas 13-8 FaZe
- Ninjas in Pyjamas 2-0 Fluxo
NiP were in shaky form going into the Major, and a Bo1 defeat to NRG on Overpass reinforced anxieties over the roster.
However, the team recovered strongly in the Bo1s to blow Fluxo away and dominate FaZe on what was ultimately a flattering scoreline for FaZe in the end.
While NiP looked to have recovered their composure against Fluxo, the overall firepower of the team is highly questionable, especially with Artem ‘r1nkle’ Moroz struggling in their Bo3 win.
Stacked up against the other Stage 2 teams, NiP’s path seems difficult; they will likely have to rely on outsmart the opposition, rather than outshooting them.
Prediction: Unlikely to advance
Fnatic:
Major record so far (3-1):
- Fnatic 16-14 Red Canids
- Fnatic 9-13 Fluxo
- Fnatic 13-3 Imperial
- Fnatic 2-1 NRG
Fnatic had an up-and-down Stage 1, encapsulated by their advancement game, which saw them lose Mirage 13-3 to NRG before victories on Inferno and Dust 2.
Inconsistency and map pool issues are normal for a team so soon after adding a player, but that was the org’s choice.
They progressed through 3-1, but it was an unconvincing 3-1, with their only unambiguously positive result coming against Imperial on Train.
Stage 2 seems to be the roster’s current limit.
Prediction: Unlikely to advance
B8:
Major record so far (3-1):
- B8 11-13 M80
- B8 13-11 The Huns
- B8 13-11 Parivision
- B8 2-0 Legacy
B8 are also inconsistent, but in a much more promising way. The Ukrainian roster has beaten Legacy (twice), 3DMAX, Astralis, and G2 months.
They have also lost to Tyloo, Hotu, and Heroic recently. The roster has high highs when everything is flowing, and it seems to be flowing more often after their recent IGL change.
Their Mirage against a downtrodden Legacy in their Bo3 was a perfect exhibition of their best work.
If they bottle that flow state and can replicate it, they absolutely can cause some upsets on Stage 2, but that’s a big if.
Prediction: Unlikely to advance
FaZe:
Major record so far (3-2):
- FaZe 13-5 Lynn Vision
- FaZe 10-13 NRG
- FaZe 8-13 Ninjas in Pyjamas
- FaZe 2-1 Red Canids
- FaZe 2-1 Fluxo
FaZe’s run was encapsulated by Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen’s expressive sigh of relief after FaZe squeaked past Fluxo.
FaZe’s 2025 has been one of struggles, but few expected them to be 0.437 seconds from elimination against Red Canids.
The Counter-Strike they have shown in Stage 1 is sloppy, unstructured, and mistake-laden, but the important thing is that they are in Stage 2.
The simple reality is that they have to play better to advance to Stage 3. Losses to NiP and NRG with a coaching stand-in show that they will not beat Stage 2 level teams in that form.
Still, there are probably enough poor teams in Stage 2 for FaZe to advance with the quality of their players, if they can just fix some glaring errors in their game.
Prediction: Likely to advance
Imperial:
Major record so far (3-2):
- Imperial 13-11 Rare Atom
- Imperial 6-13 FlyQuest
- Imperial 3-13 Fnatic
- Imperial 2-0 The Huns
- Imperial 2-0 NRG
Imperial are in Stage 2 by the grace of the draw. They were easily beaten by teams which advanced, and got arguably the weakest opposition for their victories.
Individually, Santino ‘try’ Rigal is delivering, which is an absolute necessity for the roster, and Kaiky ‘noway’ Santos’s performances are a huge boost for the roster.
However, reviewing their matches, it’s hard to look past the mediocrity they faced on the server. They did what they had to do, but there is seemingly no path to Stage 3 for Imperial.
Prediction: Extremely unlikely to advance
Parivision:
Major record so far (3-2):
- Parivision 13-8 The Huns
- Parivision 9-13 M80
- Parivsion 11-13 B8
- Parivision 2-0 GamerLegion
- Parivision 2-1 Legacy
Parivision’s victory over Legacy followed a similar slugfest against GamerLegion. The run dismissed any notion that Dzhami ‘Jame’ Ali could no longer grind out results against top opposition.
Of the 3-2 teams, their Bo3 wins are certainly the most impressive, making them outside contenders to once again advance in Stage 2.
Yet they were almost eliminated multiple times in both matches, making their 3-2 placement a fair reflection of their level.
Their opening matchup against Tyloo, who have lacked recent form, gives them a potential springboard into Stage 2.
Stage 2 is likely the roster’s limit, but if Stage 1 taught us anything, it is not to count Jame’s boys out.
Prediction: Unlikely to advance
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