Look Sports Media – Vitality’s commanding triumph at the StarLadder Budapest Major delivered undeniable proof of their supremacy, cementing their legacy in what has been a defining 2025 season for the roster. Yet, every championship run leaves a trail of profound disappointment, and the Budapest Major was no exception. While Vitality celebrated their second Major title of the year, 31 other teams departed vanquished. The sting of defeat is particularly acute for those who reached the playoffs, walking past the coveted trophy but ultimately unable to claim it. looksports.media delves into the performances of the seven playoff teams that fell short at the StarLadder Budapest Major, examining what strategic shifts and mental adjustments are needed to transform the bitter taste of loss into the sweet savor of victory in 2026.
FaZe Clan’s Thrilling Run: A Fragile Foundation?
FaZe’s "miracle run" in Budapest undoubtedly provided the tournament’s most captivating narrative and entertainment. From the brink of Stage 1 elimination, mere seconds away from an early exit, the squad defied expectations, ultimately falling just two maps shy of the championship. Their journey showcased significant improvement, with the team visibly elevating their play through each stage.
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In a prior conversation with looksports.media at BLAST London, In-Game Leader Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen reflected on earlier struggles, emphasizing the importance of team mentality: "The most important thing was that we didn’t have a strong mentality. That comes from not believing in our system, believing in ourselves, believing in the way we play. How can you believe in the comeback if it’s a system that has cracks, right?"
Indeed, FaZe’s unwavering belief in comebacks was a hallmark of their Budapest performance, notably demonstrated in their Nuke recovery against Natus Vincere in the semi-final. The team’s mental fortitude has clearly improved since the first half of the year, and with the formidable rifling duo of David ‘frozen’ Čerňanský and Russel ‘Twistzz’ van Dulken, they possess immense round-winning potential. Jakub ‘jcobbb’ Pietruszewski also experienced his first truly impactful moments for FaZe, a promising sign for his future confidence at Tier 1.
However, their Grand Final defeat starkly revealed their current limitations. FaZe’s path to victory hinged entirely on Nuke and Inferno, as they appeared utterly outmatched on Dust 2 and Overpass. Overpass, in particular, had been a persistent vulnerability even before the Grand Final thrashing, with jcobbb and Twistzz struggling to even trade effectively on the B site. They were arguably fortunate that Vitality’s permaban is Ancient, a map where FaZe was thoroughly exposed against NaVi, suffering a 13-5 demolition in the semi-final. Simply put, out of the seven-map pool, FaZe currently performs at a high standard on only three, making them predictable prey for a more strategically developed roster like Vitality.
karrigan had previously indicated to HLTV that he was targeting 2026 for peak performance. While one hopes their map pool will naturally evolve with time, it’s far from guaranteed, as different maps expose distinct player strengths and weaknesses. In the most optimistic light, a Best of 5 Grand Final in 2025 proved to be a step too far for this FaZe iteration.
NaVi: Resurgence or a Dangerous Illusion?
NaVi’s Budapest campaign, at times, echoed their PGL Copenhagen 2024 run – an Andrii ‘B1ad3’ Horodenskyi tactical masterclass guiding an underdog roster to glory. Beyond the tactical prowess, their positive attitudes and the sudden, unexpected individual surges from players were strikingly reminiscent of 2024. The key distinction in NaVi’s 2025 Major performance compared to 2024 was the consistent emergence of different players stepping up when it mattered most in the previous year. Whether it was Justinas ‘jL’ Lekavičius or Valerii ‘b1t’ Vakhovskyi, someone always "popped off" to overcome deficits, despite the roster not being individually comparable to other top teams.
In 2025, this collective individual brilliance had been largely absent until Budapest. Suddenly, Ihor ‘w0nderful’ Zhdanov transformed into a superstar AWPer, and Drin ‘makazze’ Shaqiri demonstrated a keen understanding of timings complementing his natural aim. Despite a disappointing conclusion, NaVi looked significantly better than at any other point in 2025, even surpassing their IEM Cologne semi-final run.
However, the most perilous inclination for the Natus Vincere organization would be to view Budapest as a foundation to build upon without critical changes. NaVi has consistently appeared to need roster adjustments throughout the year, repeatedly suffering from a lack of raw firepower that undermines their ability to execute their system effectively. While Budapest represented a high-water mark, their defeat at the hands of FaZe’s frozen and Twistzz starkly illustrated the impact of the difference-making players NaVi currently lacks.
Analyst YnK, in an interview with looksports.media, described NaVi’s composition: "Even last year, they’re a team that overperformed, really. When you look at the composition of the roster, you would not have expected them to have the success that they did. But they played like more than the sum of their powers." They somehow mustered that collective strength in Budapest, but in this increasingly competitive year, it ultimately wasn’t enough. Budapest has only complicated roster decisions for NaVi, as individuals delivered at crucial moments, but to truly contend for titles again, ruthless decisions may still be necessary.
Mouz: The Plateau of Predictable T-Sides
Mouz’s defeat at the hands of FaZe was, frankly, a nightmare. It felt as though the team had regressed, with the squad previously dubbed ‘FaZe Academy’ once again faltering under intense pressure. While this assessment might be harsh, as experience is invaluable, the fact that FaZe could rebound from a poor showing to defeat Mouz again suggests a plateau in Mouz’s development. It’s a high plateau, to be sure, but mentally, it’s challenging to accept repeated losses in a similar fashion.
Statistically, Mouz’s T-sides are a significant weakness. Their reserved and careful approach makes them a formidable CT-sided team, keeping them among the world’s elite, but they frequently lack initiative and aggression on the T-side. Essentially, Mouz’s strategy relies too heavily on the opening success of Dorian ‘xertioN’ Berman, who once again had a slow start against FaZe. When xertioN struggles, Mouz finds themselves without space and unable to mid-round their way out of difficult situations.
One potential issue for Mouz is their IGL’s perceived lack of emotional leadership. Observing the big screen in the arena, it was evident that Ludvig ‘Brollan’ Brolin was not as vocal or emotionally demonstrative as players like Ádám ‘torzsi’ Torzsás. Mouz coach, Dennis ‘sycrone’ Nielsen, told looksports.media, "There’s a lot of development with Ludvig’s [Brollan’s] weaknesses on a leadership side, on an emotional side, but also a lot of strengths in terms of the technical side." However, in CS2, a game so heavily influenced by momentum, one wonders if Mouz is missing an emotional leader, someone to join torzsi in rallying the troops when times get tough. At the very least, Brollan’s ‘technical side’ isn’t translating into technically proficient T-sides.
MOUZ Brollan (@Brollan) tweeted: "Absolutely gutted. We aimed higher than this, and it’s hard to process right now.. Sorry to all the fans who believed in us. ❤️ GGs @FaZeClan and good luck going forward."
Spirit’s Roster Shake-Up: Keeping donk Content
Danil ‘donk’ Kryshkovets appeared utterly devastated following Spirit’s defeat against Vitality on Mirage, a loss from which he never truly recovered during the series. The prodigy had delivered an incredible 34 kills and a 1.54 HLTV rating in the contest, only to end up on the losing side. The tension between the young superstar and his teammates was palpable after the loss, compounded by an uncompetitive Dust 2 defeat.
That palpable tension has swiftly led to Leonid ‘chopper’ Vishnyakov and Ivan ‘zweih’ Gogin being benched, with Boris ‘magixx’ Vorobiev and Myroslav ‘zont1x’ Plakhotia returning to the active roster. It’s fair to conclude that Spirit’s "firepower experiment" has failed. Moves intended to provide donk with a supportive cast on the server ironically left him feeling more isolated than ever. Spirit’s swift action, particularly the reintegration of magixx, seems almost explicitly designed to keep their generational rifler happy. donk’s typically emotionless facade was observed to break several times due to magixx’s cheerful personality – a dynamic that could be crucial in helping donk navigate mental struggles during matches.
Spirit’s T-sides have also been abysmal, completely one-dimensional and far too reliant on donk, even with the additions of Andrey ‘tN1R’ Tatarinovich and zweih. While chopper had a commendable run with Spirit and developed an incredible amount of young talent, it seems his time as IGL had run its course. He lacked the necessary in-game solutions, and his own fragging ability was at times a significant liability. With magixx, the team’s performance is an unknown, but frankly, Spirit’s T-sides can scarcely get worse. On the CT-side, the roles now appear much more logical, with tN1R presumably being allowed to fully utilize his star potential. Whether this constitutes a long-term solution to Spirit’s IGLing challenges remains to be seen, but at the very least, it should keep donk on board, which is undoubtedly the organization’s top priority.
Furia: The Fading Window for FalleN?
Furia and Falcons can both look back with regret at their slow starts in the quarter-finals. Individually, their players weren’t performing from the outset, a fatal flaw in the MR12 format. Furia, entering as pre-tournament favorites, faced severe criticism for their loss to NaVi. However, in this publication’s estimation, the defeat wasn’t an overwhelming cause for concern. After an exhilarating debut year, Danil ‘molodoy’ Golubenko was due for a rough series or two. It’s easy to forget that the AWPer is still a rookie, having adapted to Tier 1 CS with remarkable ease, but against NaVi, those high-pressure shots went awry. The Kazakh has produced magic in arenas, but as Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač can attest, Major pressure is a different beast entirely.
Furia’s primary concern isn’t necessarily the tournament loss itself, but rather the potential closing window for Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo’s tenure as IGL. Ninjas in Pyjamas legend, Christopher ‘GeT_RiGhT’ Alesund, shared with looksports.media, "I’ve talked to FalleN, actually, a few times about it, and I’m to some degree kind of surprised he still plays because, from what he told me, it feels like he doesn’t want to play." If FalleN were to step down next year, Furia would have only two Majors left to replicate their outstanding form seen at events like BLAST Rivals or IEM Chengdu in a Major Playoff. After winning four out of five events leading up to the Major, the desire to strike while the iron is hot is understandable. However, as long as FalleN remains at the helm, this Furia team possesses the mental resilience to recover from this setback and compete fiercely again in 2026.
Falcons: The Enigma of Inconsistency
Despite an overtime loss on Map 2, Falcons’ elimination from Budapest felt almost instantaneous. Map 1 on Nuke was a swift affair with little resistance. NiKo, Damjan ‘kyxsan’ Stoilkovski, and René ‘TeSeS’ Madsen were effectively neutralized, with only Maxim ‘kyousuke’ Lukin and Ilya ‘m0NESY’ Osipov offering any significant challenge. Dust 2 seemed within their grasp, but zweih’s heroics ultimately denied them.
The perplexing aspect of Falcons is how frequently they fail to perform commensurate with their star power. This stems from a persistent inconsistency in activating the roster’s individual talents. Some days, that star power is fully unleashed, making them appear nearly unstoppable; other times, it’s completely absent. In Budapest, against Spirit, they looked remarkably ordinary. Danny ‘zonic’ Sørensen, the five-time Major-winning coach, should rightfully face scrutiny in this regard. He is ultimately responsible for how the team enters the server and the strategies employed to build momentum. Nevertheless, the team’s average placement remains a respectable 3rd/4th, so there’s no immediate cause for panic. While rumors circulate about a potential star-anchor signing, the roster’s true fate will be determined by whether m0NESY, kyousuke, and NiKo can consistently perform at their peak, day in and day out.
kyxsan (@kyxsancs) tweeted: "Yesterday we lost 0-2 to @Team__Spirit and we got eliminated from the Major. Congrats to them and good luck in the next matches. Once again we end the season in a disappointing way. Our expectations were higher than this but unfortunately this time we didn’t deserve it. Not much…"
The MongolZ: A Potential Peak Reached?
For The MongolZ, securing a playoff berth was undoubtedly a positive outcome, driven by the unexpectedly strong performances of Unudelger ‘controlez’ Baasanjargal. The 28-year-old’s limited Tier 1 experience only truly became apparent on the main stage, an understandable shortcoming. The roster demonstrated their continued excellence by navigating through Stage 3 of the Major, notably defeating a strong G2 team to advance. The MongolZ still maintain a distinct identity even in the absence of Azbayar ‘Senzu’ Munkhbold. However, it is plausible that their Austin Major Grand Final appearance will forever stand as their peak achievement without him.
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