StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 playoffs preview and predictions

Over the past two weeks, 32 of the world’s best Counter-Strike 2 teams have battled across three Swiss stages of the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 to qualify for the playoffs and vie for the game’s biggest trophy.

Taking place in the Hungarian capital’s MVM Dome, eight of the 32 teams have booked a place in the playoffs, with several powerhouse rosters in contention to lift the trophy on December 14th. 

Before the action gets underway on December 11th, Esports Insider takes a closer look at the teams competing in the playoffs. Esports Insider also aims to predict the outcome of Counter-Strike 2’s season-ending event. 

Despite heading into the Major with a string of top-eight finishes, Team Spirit has hit the ground running in Budapest. Danil ‘donk’ Kryshkovets, in particular, continues to cement his place as one of the greatest riflers of all time. 

Donk’s often unstoppable impact has headlined a Stage 3 campaign where the IEM Cologne 2025 winners barely broke a sweat against some of Counter-Strike’s established names. Team Spirit made quick work of Team Liquid and FaZe Clan in best-of-ones before opening the best-of-three against MOUZ with a convincing 13-5 victory on Mirage, winning the series 2-1.

In addition to donk, Dmitry ‘sh1ro’ Sokolov has hit a purple patch with the AWP in hand, creating a combination of raw fragging power that few opponents can contend with. Team Spirit will need to call upon that firepower once more as it takes on Team Falcons in the quarter-finals. 

Team Falcons found itself on the brink of elimination after losing its map pick of Ancient against G2 Esports in the fifth round of Stage 3. A strong recovery on Inferno helped the team book its playoff place. The last time the two sides met was at BLAST Rivals Fall 2025, with Team Falcons securing a 2-0 sweep. Victory for Team Falcons could result in the team flying to new heights, but with donk in phenomenal form, there’s a chance Team Spirit could clip its wings.

Even with a surprise roster change in October, The MongolZ continues to demonstrate its ability to challenge and overcome teams with more established line-ups. Following a defeat to Imperial Esports in Stage 3’s opening round, the Mongolian national side bounced back with victories over Team Liquid and FaZe Clan to set up a clash with BLAST Open London champions G2 Esports in round four. 

The benching of Azbayar ‘Senzu’ Munkhbold before the Major was unexpected, as was the arrival of Unudelger ‘Controlez’ Baasanjargal, who has filled the gap seamlessly as a temporary stand-in. Armed with a wealth of experience and the ability to dig the team out of sticky situations. 

The MongolZ faces off against Team Vitality in the quarter-finals in a rematch of the Austin Major Grand Final. Although the line-up is different, the Mongolians could spring a surprise over a Team Vitality side that is starting to show cracks in its once impenetrable armour.

Elsewhere, the infamous FaZe Clan magic is alive and kicking after the organisation survived all three stages to score another appearance in a Major playoffs. Despite defeats to Team Spirit and The MongolZ during Stage 3, the Red Militia has seemingly turned a corner in its quest for a first Major title in three years.

An uptick in Jakub ‘jcobbb’ Pietruszewski’s form during Stage 3 has injected a new lease of life into a team that has come close to elimination on several occasions throughout the tournament. FaZe Clan has the tricky task of overcoming MOUZ in the quarter-finals. If FaZe Clan fires on all cylinders, it could find itself in another semi-final.

Heading into the Major with four wins out of its last five events, FURIA remains the team to beat in Budapest. The Brazilian organisation began Stage 3 with a best-of-one clash against NAVI in a rematch of the Thunderpick World Championship Grand Final. 

During the event, NAVI took two maps from FURIA, before the December VRS chart-toppers completed a reverse sweep to lift the trophy. The result cast doubt as players loaded onto Nuke as fans tuned in to see whether the Ukrainians could achieve victory. FURIA dominated from the outset, scoring all 12 rounds in the first half before closing out the map with a 13-2 scoreline. 

NAVI looks to avenge its Thunderpick World Championship defeat and its round-one loss in the quarter-finals. Ihor ‘w0nderful’ Zhdanov must continue his fantastic momentum if the team looks to beat a team with an in-form Danil ‘molodoy’ Golubenko excelling with the AWP and Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo rolling back the years with a rifle in hand.

FURIA has hit form at the right time, and with it facing off against a familiar opponent, the team has an excellent chance to earn a place in its fourth consecutive semi-final.

The opening day of the playoffs sees Team Spirit taking on Team Falcons and The MongolZ facing off against Team Vitality.

Donk’s imperious form will make the difference over a Team Falcons side that has found its feet in recent months. Even with Team Falcons continuing to find improvement, Team Spirit’s talisman could spearhead the lineup to another victory.

While The MongolZ has impressed with Controlez on the roster, Team Vitality’s stability and experience as a roster should shine through. However, the French organisation’s recent downward turn of form could become a factor, opening the door for the Mongolians to make another Major semi-final.

FURIA remains the team to beat in the Hungarian capital, and having beaten NAVI in recent tournaments and in Stage 3, it has the edge in this particular quarter-final match-up.

FaZe Clan’s clash with MOUZ could be a much closer contest, depending on whether FaZe Clan can rekindle the magic or fall by the wayside. On the other side of the stage, the incredible consistency of MOUZ is expected to shine through on Counter-Strike’s biggest stage.

With Team Spirit, Team Vitality, FURIA, and MOUZ advancing to the semi-finals, the theoretical matches are as follows:

Both Team Spirit and Team Vitality have experienced a dip in form, making a match between the two sides an exciting prospect. With Sh1ro excelling with the AWP, a duel against Mathieu ‘ZywOo‘ Herbaut can set the Major alight with high-impact plays worthy of any highlight reel.

FURIA’s recent form has seen it cement its place as the tournament favourite, while MOUZ continues to make deep runs in Tier 1 events. Ádám ‘torzsi‘ Torzsás will be competing in front of his home crowd, and a win against the world’s best team would mark a fitting end to a strong season.

Based on the outcome of the theoretical semi-finals, a Grand Final between Team Spirit and FURIA is on the cards in the Hungarian capital.

FURIA’s incredible form over the past five months has placed it in a great position to lift the trophy, while Counter-Strike’s greatest rifler is looking to cement his place among the all-time greats.

For the first time in Major history, the Budapest Grand Final will be contested over a best-of–five. With two sides capable of putting on a classic match, FURIA will need to dig deep into its playbook if its to halt the momentum of donk and Team Spirit.