FURIA and Spirit have already secured themselves a spot in the MVM Dome at the StarLadder Budapest Major playoffs. Three more teams will be joining them today.
All the top dogs are still in the mix, ready to lock horns and take each other on in best-of-three qualification series. Let’s see who might come out on top.
ropz staring at a potential third Major trophy. Credit: © StarLadder
NAVI has performed just about as expected in Stage 3 of the StarLadder Budapest Major thus far. The international lineup got battered in the opening game against the world’s best team, FURIA, before comfortably outplaying lesser opponents in PARIVISION and paiN.
All the players on NAVI are shooting well, with Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov being the standout. While he hasn’t been able to replicate his form from Stage 2, the sniper is still putting up solid numbers, now joined by his teammates.
Vitality’s journey up to this game hasn’t been too dissimilar. The reigning Major champions fell short in their maiden Major game to a tricky FaZe Clan before delivering two dominant displays against 3DMAX and B8, with the games finishing 13-4 and 13-2, respectively.
Since their blip in the opening game, Vitality has looked extremely solid. The loss seems to have been a wake-up call for the best team of 2025, and they look really sharp coming into this qualification game. It’s difficult to see NAVI challenging Vitality on a single map, let alone a full BO3.
Score prediction:
Odds:
Odds courtesy of Stake. Odds are subject to change.
Falcons hoping to make maiden Major playoffs appearance. Credit: © StarLadder
In typical MOUZ fashion, a tight game against a top team ended in a loss, as they failed to overcome Spirit in yesterday’s qualification game. However, the international roster put up a good fight, winning one map and losing 13-11 on the decider.
While most of the players on MOUZ are doing what they are supposed to, output-wise, Adam “torzsi” Torzsas is yet to deliver on the AWP. The sniper hasn’t been delivering for the last couple of months, and he needs to step up for MOUZ to be competitive. There’s no better time to do so than at a Major on home soil.
At the beginning, it looked like it could be another Major disaster for Falcons after B8 broke their 10-map Ancient win streak and sent them to the 0-1 bracket. Thankfully for fans of the roster, the following games were a breeze in the park—13-5 and 13-1 victories against Passion UA and Imperial, respectively.
MOUZ are yet to beat this iteration of the Falcons roster, and it’s unlikely that changes today. Falcons have looked far more dangerous than MOUZ at the Major, even with Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov yet to arrive on the server. If the sniper gets into his groove, MOUZ should be toast.
Score prediction:
Odds:
Odds courtesy of Stake. CS2 odds are subject to change.
Can huNter- lead G2 to playoffs in Major IGLing debut? Credit: © StarLadder
G2 and The MongolZ haven’t played many games against each other in recent times. Usually, The MongolZ had the measure of G2, but they have not faced since Azbayar “Senzu” Munkhbold left the roster.
Most people thought that after losing Senzu, The MongolZ would completely fall out of the top team conversations. However, the Mongolian squad has been playing surprisingly well, comfortably besting fringe teams like FaZe or Liquid.
As for G2, since lifting the BLAST Open London 2025 trophy, their results have been rather disappointing. The international squad hasn’t been able to click, but they have looked good at the Major thus far, especially Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia.
While The MongolZ do have an outside chance of taking out G2, it should be the latter that take care of business and book themselves a quarter-final spot, joining FURIA and Spirit in the MVM Dome.
Score prediction:
Odds:
Odds courtesy of Stake. Odds are subject to change.
Feature image credit: © StarLadder
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