Fluxo, NRG and Legacy bow out of StarLadder Budapest Major 2025

Fluxo, NRG, and Legacy have become the last teams to be eliminated from Stage 1 of the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025. 

The trio of teams failed to win their fifth-round matches, ending the opening stage of the Counter-Strike 2 tournament with a record of 2-3.

Having begun Stage 1 with two victories over Fnatic and GamerLegion, Fluxo’s hot start came crumbling down at the hands of FlyQuest and Ninjas in Pyjamas. As a result, the Brazilian side found itself in a round five clash against a FaZe Clan fighting for its tournament life. 

FaZe opened the series with a 13-6 win on Inferno, but Fluxo’s pick of Nuke proved the difference, answering back with a 13-7 victory to level the series at one map apiece. 

Mirage would decide which team would advance and which one would head home. An 8-4 half from Fluxo put the team in the driving seat, putting FaZe on the brink of elimination once again. However, the infamous FaZe Clan magic surfaced once more, overturning the deficit to complete a 13-10 comeback and a 2-1 win to eliminate Fluxo from the Major.

Despite competing with coach Damian ‘daps’ Steele in place of Nicholas ‘nitr0’ Cannella, NRG found itself in a position to join M80 in the second stage after taking down Ninjas in Pyjamas and FaZe Clan in the first two rounds. 

The fellow North American side of M80 put a halt to NRG’s winning momentum in round three alongside Fnatic, which secured a close 2-1 win in round four. This set up a clash with Imperial Esports in round five.

The lack of a full-strength squad was evident. Imperial’s superior defence made the difference on Nuke and Train, scoring 13-8 and 13-5 wins on the two maps to complete a 2-0 sweep.

The third and final match of day four saw Parivision take on Legacy for the one remaining place in Stage 2.

Parivision struck first on Ancient with a balanced display of attacking and defensive strategy to secure a 13-9 win and a step closer to advancing. Nevertheless, Legacy answered back on Inferno thanks to a clinical defensive display in the opening half to create a six-round lead that Parivision was unable to close. Legacy took Inferno 13-5 to force a Dust II decider.

The Brazilians opened Dust II with a slender 7-5 lead in the opening half, following up with four consecutive offensive rounds in the second half to move within two rounds of Stage 2. Some clinical AWPing from Dzhami ‘Jame’ Ali rallied Parivision as the team levelled the map to force overtime. 

Legacy continued battling, but the momentum of Parivision was too much. The European side emerged victorious on Dust II with a 19-16 comeback, taking a 2-1 series victory and the last place in Stage 2.

The 16 teams competing in Stage 2 will return to action on November 29th, with the first round of matches featuring 16 best-of-ones. 

The second stage of the Major sees the likes of Aurora Gaming, NAVI, and Team Liquid join the action, while the teams from Stage 1 look to keep the momentum going.