Team Vitality and FaZe Clan have secured a place in the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 Grand Final.
The Austin Major champion bested the 2024 Shanghai Major winner, while FaZe Clan defeated an in-form NAVI side.
Team Vitality Sweeps Team Spirit
Team Spirit looked to continue its fine run of form in the Hungarian capital with victory over a Team Vitality side hoping to rediscover its early-season form with a second consecutive Major Grand Final appearance.
Team Vitality, however, answered back in the second half with eight rounds of its own to reduce the deficit and force overtime.
Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut’s AWPing proved crucial in round 30, with four eliminations in Mid, sending Mirage into a second overtime. Despite a one-versus-three clutch from Leonid ‘chopper’ Vishnyakov in round 32, Team Vitality overturned an 11-4 deficit to grab a 19-17 win.
The French organisation raced to an early lead on Dust II but was unable to shake a resilient Team Spirit attack, ending the first half all square at 6-6.
Both sides traded rounds back and forth before Team Vitality broke the deadlock in round 19 for a three-round advantage. The eight-time 2025 Tier 1 event winners kept the ball rolling, extending the lead to outright victory. A 13-8 win secured the 2-0 sweep, keeping Team Vitality’s quest to defend its Major title alive.
After besting FURIA in the quarter-finals, NAVI faced off against FaZe Clan in a battle of the underdogs as both looked to return to the pinnacle of Counter-Strike esports. Drin ‘Makazze’ Shaqiri dominated the opening half of Ancient, topping the scoreboard with 16 eliminations at the end of a clinical 10-2 half for the Ukrainian organisation.
FaZe Clan attempted to reduce the deficit in the second half, but NAVI’s defence held firm to secure a clinical 13-5 win to open the best-of-three.
The pistols of NAVI opened Nuke with lethal precision, securing another early lead. Still, the Red Militia answered back with four crucial attacking rounds, allowing the team a chance to overturn NAVI’s 8-4 lead in the second half. FaZe Clan slowly mounted the comeback, closing the gap to one round. A fadeaway headshot from Mihai ‘iM’ Ivan in round 20 was the catalyst for NAVI to restore a two-round lead, putting FaZe Clan’s economy on the brink of collapse.
David ‘frozen’ Čerňanský continued to demonstrate excellent clutching ability, sticking a one-versus-one defuse to help swing the momentum in FaZe Clan’s favour. As a result, FaZe Clan took the lead to win Nuke 13-11, levelling the series.
Having constantly battled back from behind, FaZe Clan finally asserted its dominance in the first half of Inferno, taking nine rounds in the first half with some well-timed rotations and aggressive Banana control. NAVI had its chances in the opening half, with Valeri ‘b1t’ Vakhovskyi scoring four headshots in round five and Ihor ‘w0nderful’ Zhdanov’s one-versus-two clutch in round 11 weren’t enough to stop its opposition.
FaZe Clan’s rotations proved the difference in round 15. A quick pivot to the A site secured the Red Militia’s tenth round, putting the strain on NAVI’s economy. NAVI continued a defiant fightback. A defuse with 0.044 seconds left on the clock in round 18, and some fast adjustments to quick rotations closed the gap to three.
Despite NAVI’s best efforts to reduce the deficit, FaZe Clan’s offence proved superior, securing a 13-8 win and a 2-1 series victory to book its place in the Grand Final.
Having found itself on the verge of a Stage 1 elimination, FaZe Clan is now in a position to compete for another Major title.
StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 Grand Final
Three weeks of world-class Counter-Strike come down to the StarLadder Budapest Major Grand Final, where FaZe Clan and Team Vitality faces off in a best-of-five series to determine the champion.
Taking place on December 14th at 5 PM GMT, fans can tune into the Budapest Major Grand Final across StarLadder’s Twitch, YouTube, and Kick channels.
