Spirit and Vitality qualify for StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 Semi-Finals

Spirit and Vitality became the first teams through to the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 Semi-Finals, ending the Major hopes of Falcons and The MongolZ respectively. The first two Quarter-Finals provided little in the way of drama, with both series ending in 2:0 fashion.

Spirit end NiKo’s Major dream as donk marches on

Spirit upset the odds to take down Falcons in a series that might well go down in the history books as another NiKo Major choke. After beating Spirit three times already this year, it felt as though Falcons were destined to progress in this series, but a Herculean effort from donk and zweih ensured that their trophy draught will extend into 2026 at a minimum.

In a single word, map one of Nuke could only be described as dominant. Two of Falcons’ four-round haul came within the first two rounds of the map, and adding another two during the first half gave it the illusion of competitiveness. But a clean sweep on Spirit’s CT-side meant Nuke came crashing down around them, leaving them a map down and in great peril at the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025.

For Falcons, the silver lining was that Dust2 was up next. A map they’re more than comfortable on. And with the score at 11:5 in favor of Falcons, we looked all set to go the distance in this series. At that point, Spirit found their groove, while Falcons totally lost theirs. A thrilling comeback saw Spirit drag the match to overtime, with zweih coming up clutch with an ace in a crucial round to hold the B Site. When a third map felt fundamental, that NiKo Major curse came crawling back.

And when overtime commenced, it became clear that Falcons’ mental was spent. Spirit went undefeated, closing the map out 16:12 and the series 2:0. Despite history being against them, Spirit were Major Semi-Finalists once more. And NiKo will have to wait a little bit longer before he has a chance to be the King who finally wears his crown. But at 28 years old, and his longevity already way beyond that of the average player, it’s starting to feel a little bit more like “if,” rather than “when.”

Vitality meet all expectations to dump The MongolZ out of the Major

Vitality were provided what felt like a pretty straightforward draw to kick off the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 Playoffs, facing off against a MongolZ team still playing with stand-in controlez. The MongolZ had done well to get to this point, admittedly, but it always felt as thought their Major run had an imminent expiration date. In the end, it proved to be the case, with Vitality dispatching the Mongolian outfit in a straightforward 2:0 series.

The first slew of rounds in the Mirage opener proved to be a false dawn. The MongolZ were able to put together a fair collection of early rounds, but it turns out that Vitality just needed to find their bearings on the server. Although The MongolZ put together five rounds in the first half, that haul proved to be the final tally as Vitality closed it out 13:5, with ZywOo putting out his single highest-rated Major map of all time at a 2.47.

It was a familiar story on Dust2, too. A rapid sprint to the finish saw Vitality smoothly take it home with a 13:4 win, perfection in the second half once more. The MongolZ, powerless in the face of a much superior Counter-Strike team on the day. Importantly, Vitality remain in the hunt for a back-to-back Major win, a feat no team has managed since Astralis in 2019.