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The Hungary-hosted StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 is a Valve-sanctioned CS2 Major Championship (i.e., one of the official Majors in Counter-Strike 2). It continues the format of Majors with multiple stages. Majors such as the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 are the premier tournaments in Counter-Strike eSports — they carry the highest prestige and usually the largest prize pools. Performance here often affects a team’s legacy, rankings, sponsorship, and historical standing.

Because it’s a Major, it draws global attention; moreover, for 2025 specifically, this Major marks StarLadder’s return to organizing a CS Major (they last hosted Berlin 2019). It will be held from November 24, 2025, to December 14, 2025.

As it’s clear now, the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 is hosted/operated by StarLadder, a Ukrainian tournament operator, which on January 31, 2025, was acquired by NODWIN Gaming, an India-based eSports media production company. Valve also plays an administrative/sanctioning role (since it’s an official Major).

Where Will the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 Be Held?

It’s an offline LAN event (i.e., played live in arenas, not online). The tournament’s preliminary stages (Stages 1–3) will be held at MTK Sportpark in Budapest. The playoff rounds (including the Grand Final) will take place in the MVM Dome (a 20,000-seat arena), also in the capital of Hungary.

There will be 32 teams competing in the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025. The total prize pool is US$1,250,000.

Distribution:

Which Teams Will Take Part in the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025?

Team Vitality

1

apEX

2

ZywOo

3

Spinx

4

mezii

5

ropz

Team Vitality

Team Spirit

1

chopper

2

zont1x

3

donk

4

sh1ro

5

zweih

Team Spirit

Team Falcons

1

NiKo

2

TeSeS

3

kyxsan

4

m0NESY

5

kyousuke

Team Falcons

MOUZ

1

torzsi

2

xertioN

3

Jimpphat

4

Brollan

5

Spinx

MOUZ

G2 Esports

1

huNter-

2

malbsMd

3

HeavyGod

4

SunPayus

5

matys

G2 Esports

FURIA Esports

1

yuurih

2

KSCERATO

3

FalleN

4

molodoy

5

YEKINDAR

FURIA Esports

paiN Gaming

1

biguzera

2

nqz

3

snow

4

dav1deuS

5

dgt

paiN Gaming

The MongolZ

1

bLitz

2

Techno4K

3

910

4

mzinho

5

Senzu

The MongolZ

Aurora Gaming

1

XANTARES

2

MAJ3R

3

Wicadia

4

woxic

5

jottAAA

Aurora Gaming

Natus Vincere

1

b1t

2

Aleksib

3

iM

4

w0nderful

5

makazze

Natus Vincere

Astralis

1

dev1ce

2

Staehr

3

stavn

4

jabbi

5

HooXi

Astralis

3DMAX

1

Lucky

2

Ex3rcice

3

Maka

4

Graviti

5

bodyy

3DMAX

Team Liquid

1

NAF

2

ultimate

3

NertZ

4

siuhy

5

EliGE

Team Liquid

MIBR

1

exit

2

brnz4n

3

insani

4

kl1m

5

Qikert

MIBR

Passion UA

1

Kvem

2

JT

3

Grim

4

hallzerk

5

nicx

Passion UA

TYLOO

1

JamYoung

2

Moseyuh

3

Mercury

4

Jee

5

Attacker

TYLOO

FaZe Clan

1

rain

2

broky

3

karrigan

4

frozen

5

jcobbb

FaZe Clan

GamerLegion

1

ztr

2

Tauson

3

PR

4

REZ

5

Kursy

GamerLegion

Ninjas in Pyjamas

1

r1nkle

2

ewjerkz

3

sjuush

4

Snappi

5

xKacpersky

Ninjas in Pyjamas

B8

1

npl

2

esenthial

3

headtr1ck

4

alex666

5

kensizor

B8

PARIVISION

1

BELCHONOKK

2

Jame

3

nota

4

xiELO

5

AW

PARIVISION

Fnatic

1

KRIMZ

2

blameF

3

fear

4

jambo

5

CYPHER

Fnatic

Legacy

1

latto

2

dumau

3

saadzin

4

n1ssim

5

lux

Legacy

Imperial Esports

1

VINI

2

noway

3

try

4

chelo

5

skullz

Imperial Esports

M80

1

Swisher

2

slaxz-

3

s1n

4

Lake

5

HexT

M80

NRG

1

nitr0

2

Jeorge

3

br0

4

XotiC

5

Sonic

NRG

Fluxo

1

zevy

2

arT

3

kye

4

decenty

5

Lucaozy

Fluxo

RED Canids

1

venomzera

2

drop

3

kauez

4

history

5

chayJESUS

RED Canids

Lynn Vision Gaming

1

westmelon

2

z4kr

3

EmiliaQAQ

4

Starry

5

C4LLM3SU3

Lynn Vision Gaming

The Huns Esports

1

nin9

2

Bart4k

3

cobrazera

4

yAmi

5

xerolte

The Huns Esports

FlyQuest

1

INS

2

Liazz

3

Vexite

4

regali

5

nettik

FlyQuest

Rare Atom

1

Summer

2

L1haNg

3

ChildKing

4

TiGeR

5

Marek

Rare Atom

Load more

Features of the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025

There are four stages total:

1. Stage 1 — November 24 to November 27, 2025 (FaZe, GamerLeagion, NiP, B8, PARIVISION, Fnatic, Legacy, Imperial, M80, NRG, FLUXO, RED Canids, Lynn Vision, The Huns, FlyQuest, and Rare Atom)
2. Stage 2 — November 29 to December 2, 2025 (Aurora, NAVI, Astralis, 3DMAX, Liquid, MIBR, Passion, and TYLOO)
3. Stage 3 — December 4 to December 7, 2025 (invited: Vitality, Spirit, Falcons, MOUZ, G2, FURIA, paiN, and The MongolZ)
4. Playoffs (Stage 4/elimination bracket) — December 11 to December 14, 2025

Match format & elimination system:

Stages 1 through 3 (Swiss System)

• Each of the first three stages uses a Swiss System Format with 16 teams competing in those stages.
• In these Swiss stages, a team is eliminated from that stage if they lose three matches, and advances to the next stage if they win three matches. (i.e., “win 3 before 3 losses”).
• Match types inside the stage:
  • Elimination matches (i.e., where a loss would eliminate the team) and advancement/progression matches (i.e., deciding which team advances) are played as Best-of-3 (Bo3).
  • All other matches (i.e., non-elimination, non-advancement) are Best-of-1 (Bo1).
• Seeding for Rounds 2–5 within a stage is determined using the Buchholz tiebreaker system (i.e., based on strength of opponents) plus initial seeding.
• After each stage, half the teams (8) are eliminated, and the top 8 proceed to the next stage.

Playoffs (Stage 4)

• The Playoffs are a Single-Elimination bracket (i.e., if you lose a match, you’re out).
• All matches in the playoffs are Best-of-3 (Bo3).

Who’ll Win the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025?

While we didn’t find a definitive “odds list” yet, we’ll lay down the teams and implied expectations.

Teams with consistently strong performance in 2025 and high VRS (Valve Regional Standings) are likely among the favorites. Historically, in Majors, teams like Natus Vincere, Astralis, Fnatic, FaZe, Team Vitality, G2, etc. are often in the mix (depending on roster strength in CS2).

Betting/eSports-analysis sites will often favor teams that have stable rosters, good recent LAN performance, and high seedings (starting in Stage 2/3). Because the Major has no MRQ qualifiers (all invites by VRS), high VRS teams will tend to have momentum and confidence advantages.

You can look at established eSports betting sites that cover Counter-Strike/CS2 events (depending on your country’s legal stance on eSports betting), i.e., betting sites for CS2 esports betting. Betting types you’ll typically see are match winner, map winner, map handicaps, and total maps, props (first kill, pistol round winner, etc.).

The group/stage formats in Majors have shifted over time. Earlier CS: GO Majors used GSL-style groups or two-stage Swiss, triple group, etc. In earlier Majors, qualification heavily involved regional Minors/qualifiers; in this Major, Valve has canceled the MRQ (Major Regional Qualifiers), and all teams are directly invited based on VRS. Prize pools have grown; for Berlin 2019, it was US$1 million.

For full Majors, peak viewership often reaches into the high hundreds of thousands up to a million (for grand finals), though it fluctuates by region, teams involved, etc.

The StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 will be broadcast via the official StarLadder channels (e.g., their YouTube/streaming platforms). (Standard for Majors) It will also likely be on eSports/CS2 broadcast partners (Twitch, YouTube, Steam/Valve’s in-game viewing, etc.).

Pros and Cons of StarLadder’s Return to Organizing CS2 Majors