On December 14, 2025, in Budapest, the year's final Major tournament in Counter-Strike 2 concluded. Team Vitality secured a confident victory over FaZe Clan with a 3:1 score in the grand finals, becoming the first team since 2019 to defend their Major championship title.
The French superteam demonstrated absolute dominance throughout the entire tournament and solidified their status as the best roster of 2025. For Vitality, this is the organization's third Major trophy in history and second in the last nine months – earlier in 2025, they already won at BLAST Austin Major.
Historic BO5 Finals
StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 became the first Major in Counter-Strike history where the grand finals were held in best-of-five format. This innovation allowed teams to demonstrate their map pool depth and tactical preparation. The match took place at MVM Dome before a live audience and gathered a peak viewership of 1.5 million viewers, making it one of the most-watched esports events of 2025.
Grand finals map results:
Nuke – FaZe Clan 13:6 (FaZe's only win in the series).
Dust2 – Team Vitality 13:3 (crushing French response).
Inferno – Team Vitality 13:9 (pivotal map of the series).
Overpass – Team Vitality 13:2 (triumphant finish).
FaZe Clan started the series with a confident victory on Nuke with a 13:6 score, completely controlling the game tempo after winning the pistol round. The team led by legendary captain karrigan showed their signature style, collecting eight rounds on the attacking side. However, this proved to be the only map the international roster managed to take from the French.
Vitality responded with a crushing stomp on Dust2 – 13:3. The team collected nine rounds on the terrorist side and didn't allow FaZe to take a single attacking round. FlameZ particularly stood out, continuing his phenomenal play on this map after the semifinal against Spirit.
Mezii Shines on Inferno
The third map, Inferno, became the turning point of the series. FaZe Clan approached this map with a six-win streak, but in the finals couldn't withstand the French. William "mezii" Merriman showed the best performance of his career at major tournaments, posting an incredible 1.71 rating and 24 frags with only 10 deaths. The Brit dominated on both sides of the map, allowing Vitality to close Inferno with a 13:9 score.
The final map, Overpass, turned into a formality. Vitality collected 11 rounds on the attacking side, practically settling the championship question before switching sides. FaZe won the pistol round after transitioning to defense, but this didn't help develop a counterattack. The French confidently closed the map 13:2 and became StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 champions.
ZywOo Breaks MVP Award Record
Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut was recognized as the tournament's most valuable player, receiving his third MVP award at Majors – an absolute record in Counter-Strike history. No other player has received this award three times. The Frenchman confirmed his status as the world's best player, demonstrating consistently high-level play throughout the entire tournament.
Team Vitality's key achievements at Budapest Major 2025:
First team since 2019 to defend a Major title.
Third Major trophy in the organization's history.
Second Major in 2025 (Austin and Budapest).
ZywOo received a record third MVP award at Majors.
Team's ninth major title.
Tied with Fnatic in Major victory count (three).
For team captain Dan "apEX" Madesclaire, this is his fourth Major title in his career, placing him alongside Astralis legends – Xyp9x, dev1ce, Magisk, and gla1ve. Vitality also tied with Fnatic in Major victory count (three), trailing only Astralis in the overall standings.
Vitality's Dominance in 2025
The Budapest victory became Vitality's ninth major title. The team dominated the professional scene for most of the year, though showed slightly less consistent results in the second half of the season. The Major allowed the French roster to return to their championship form at precisely the decisive moment of the year.
Vitality became the first team since Astralis's dominance in 2019 to successfully defend a Major title. The Danes back then won three Majors in a row, setting an era record. Now the French roster has the opportunity to repeat this achievement at the next Major.
Top 4 teams at StarLadder Budapest Major 2025:
Team Vitality – $500,000 (champions).
FaZe Clan – $150,000 (second place).
Team Spirit – $70,000 (3-4th place).
Natus Vincere – $70,000 (3-4th place).
The tournament ran from November 24 to December 14, 2025, and included three Swiss stages with 32 teams directly invited based on Valve Regional Standings. The prize pool was $1,250,000, which is standard for CS2 Major tournaments.
