The narratives behind the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 Playoffs

The Major is the biggest event in the Counter-Strike calendar. All roads lead to this – the trophy that every player wants to win above all else. There are those to whom winning Majors comes naturally. To others, it is the greatest mountain to climb, even across the most decorated of careers.

The long history of the Major has a funny way of serving up some special narratives, and the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 is no different. It’s time to take a deep dive into some of the most compelling storylines ahead of the Budapest Major Playoffs, where just eight teams are remaining in the fight for glory.

NiKo’s decade-long hunt for a Major continues

It’s no secret that the Major is the one achievement left for NiKo to claim in Counter-Strike. He has hunted the same prize since DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015, and it continues to elude him 15 Majors later. NiKo is widely regarded as the greatest CS player to never win a Major, coming agonizingly close at ELEAGUE Major Boston 2018.

His long-awaited move to Falcons earlier this year was supposed to be the catalyst for change. An organization with the resources of an entire state behind it, able to buy the best players on a whim. There’s a reason why “one more star” is a meme in the community – when one player doesn’t work out, Falcons can simply buy the next shiny toy in pursuit of getting NiKo his Major. In zonic, he has a five-time Major-winning coach, a man who knows what it takes to get over the line.

And now, this latest iteration of Falcons has made it to the Playoffs of the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025. They’re not the massive favorites, and their side of the draw sees them face Spirit in the opener, as well as potentially Vitality in the follow-up. It’s a nightmare draw, in reality, but Falcons and NiKo will know that this Major victory is not going to come easily. Is this the time for NiKo to finally claim the greatest prize Counter-Strike can afford him?

FalleN looking to claim the biggest prize after nine years

MLG Columbus 2016 and ESL One Cologne 2016 stand as the shining achievements of FalleN‘s career. His two Major wins came back-to-back with Luminosity Gaming and SK Gaming respectively, transforming Brazilian Counter-Strike into a dominant force and cementing himself as a legend forever. But what followed in the years to come was a slow decline for the AWP IGL, who continued to play despite a lack of success on the server. It’s easy to forget his Last Dance project, which started almost four years ago now.

When FalleN joined FURIA in mid-2023, most felt it was a move to sell jerseys rather than be competitive. Cynical, sure, but one that most felt was proven correct by the team’s results over the next 18 months. Then, as 2025 got underway, FURIA made the bold move to abandon its all-Brazilian identity, hoping to revive YEKINDAR‘s career while betting big on unknown AWPer molodoy. In doing so, FalleN made the choice to transition away from the Big Green, picking up the rifle to focus on IGLing. His decision has been more than justified.

After three consecutive trophy wins and an impressive showing in Stage 3, FURIA are the big favorites to win the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025. It’s an incredible turn for FalleN, who now has the opportunity to lift a third Major trophy, nine years after his last. It would be the longest gap between Major wins ever, eclipsing the eight years between apEX‘s Major wins in 2015 and 2023. From washed, to back on top – it’s been quite a journey, and what a swan song this would be for Brazil’s finest export.

donk is out to carve an undeniable legacy

Just two years into his Counter-Strike career, donk has already practically completed the game. He already has the holy trifecta of Katowice, Cologne, and a Major. He’s got a Major MVP, too. There’s also the small matter of his record-breaking tournament and Major ratings, holding the highest ever for both. Oh, and he’s the youngest Major winner of all time. donk is a phenom, an anomaly, with arguably the best entry into professional esports of all time. And for historical reference, I believe, the best Counter-Strike player to ever touch the game, unless you value longevity over everything else.

But at 18 years old, what else is there left for donk to do? The answer is simple – do it all again. Why win one Major, when you have the ability to win plenty? Admittedly, it’s a very different Spirit to the one that won the vast majority of trophies with donk, but he himself is in such ridiculous individual form that you simply can’t rule them out.

While donk’s Counter-Strike legacy would already be secure if he never played another match, he has the opportunity at the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 to hammer the point home even further. He’ll have many more chances in the years to come, but getting Majors in back-to-back years would be a ridiculous feat.

The FaZe magic is back – but is it enough?

Major Playoffs and FaZe just go hand-in-hand. It doesn’t feel right without the boys in black and red. Luckily, this time around, they’ll be there, but things certainly got hairy for a minute. After struggling through Stage 1 despite being big favorites, it felt as though FaZe would go through the motions to a quick elimination, before inevitably benching their poor performers.

But in adversity, FaZe fought back, and have looked mighty impressive since that near miss. Both broky and jcobbb, arguably the team’s biggest issues in the last few months, have looked great, helping the team regain the intangible “FaZe magic” that seemingly carries them to bulls*** round wins on a regular basis. It transforms even the most straightforward of FaZe matches into must-watch box office stuff.

It’s easy to forget that FaZe were in the Finals of both 2024 Majors. They’ve not been at the forefront of the scene’s narrative for a long time now, making deep runs at these events seemingly out of nowhere. But FaZe are good again. In karrigan, broky, and Twistzz, they have previous Major winners who know what’s required to get over the line. And in the single-elimination Playoffs, anything can happen. Could FaZe actually win the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025? It’s not impossible.

Vitality looking to go back-to-back

Vitality spent the first half of 2025 winning just about everything in sight. Just a single loss at BLAST Bounty right at the start of the year prevented a complete clean sweep for the season, sparking talk of a Vitality era. It was hard to deny, and they seemed like the perfect Counter-Strike team, capping off their season with a Major win at the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025.

The second season of the year hasn’t quite been as laden with trophies for Vitality, but their floor has still been extremely high. If this is their worst, then this is pretty damn good. Now, they have a unique opportunity to go and win back-to-back Majors, which hasn’t been done since Astralis in London 2018 and Katowice 2019. If Vitality can do that, they’ll secure themselves a unique place in Counter-Strike history. And if they can do it and keep winning in 2026, perhaps the Vitality era never really ended.

It will be tough. They face The MongolZ up first, who are not to be taken lightly. Then, they would face the winner of Falcons vs. Spirit. But if they want the glory, they’ll have to work for it.