Five key takeaways from the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025

Featuring 32 of the world’s best Counter-Strike 2 teams, the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 was one of the most competitive events for Valve’s first-person shooter title.

With several teams in contention to lift the trophy, the season-ending event delivered plenty of surprises, along with powerhouse rosters cementing their place at the top.

Esports Insider looks at some of the key takeaways from the StarLadder Budapest Major as attention turns towards the start of the 2026 season.

After rounding off 2025 with two Major titles and eight Tier 1 event victories, the Team Vitality era is well and truly underway.

Despite showing a few cracks in its once-impenetrable armour during the second half of the season, the French organisation has established itself as one of Counter-Strike’s greatest teams. In addition to a vast collection of trophies, the team recorded the second-longest LAN winning streak in history, scoring 30 wins between February and June.

Heading into 2026 as the team to beat, Team Vitality has withstood the pressure with incredible levels of consistency against any opponent standing in its way.

With the rise of Asia and South America, North America’s Counter-Strike scene has struggled to make an impact throughout the 2025 season.

Despite this, the region showed signs of improvement in the Hungarian capital, with M80 topping the Stage 1 standings and Passion UA almost securing a spot in the Playoffs.

M80 is already making changes ahead of 2026 with the goal to dominate the region, while Passion UA fields a strong roster that has proven its ability against multiple established names.

Despite besting TYLOO and Astralis in Stage 2, Team Liquid crashed out of the StarLadder Budapest Major in the third Stage, failing to win a single map.

Overcoming Team Spirit and The MongolZ in the opening two rounds was always going to be a struggle, but Team Liquid’s attack collapsed against Passion UA, scoring four rounds in its 2-0 defeat.

With several teams expected to make changes during the off-season, Team Liquid has a chance to inject a breath of fresh air into a roster that has struggled to find consistency over the last 12 months.

Since winning PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025, MOUZ has placed no lower than the top eight over the past ten months, demonstrating its ability to compete among the very best in the world.

However, another top-eight finish and this time as a result of a 2-0 sweep against FaZe Clan, shows that the German organisation is unable to take the next step required to earn regular Grand Final appearances and outright victories.

With rumours of a roster change continuing to circulate, a new recruit could be what MOUZ requires to move forward and add more trophies next to its Cluj-Napoca title.

FaZe Clan’s eventful 2025 came to a head in Budapest and proved that the international roster can still make deep runs in Counter-Strike’s biggest tournaments.

The Red Militia came within half a second away from a Stage 1 elimination against RED Canids before dominating Stage 2 and successfully navigating its way into the Playoffs with a 3-2 record in Stage 3.

The run didn’t stop there. A 2-0 sweep of MOUZ, followed by a 2-1 victory over NAVI, secured a place in the Grand Final against Team Vitality, where the team even managed to win the opening map of the best-of-five series.

Despite the defeat, FaZe Clan has once again proven that the magic is still there and could start next year on the front foot if it can carry this Major momentum forward.