FaZe, led by karrigan, prevailed against apEX’s Vitality, who entered the match as the favorites.
In the opening clash of the Starladder Budapest Major 2025 Stage 3, it was karrigan’s FaZe that emerged victorious over Vitality. Entering the match as favorites, Vitality faced a bitter disappointment with the final score.
Once again, a favorite team was upset in the Best of 1 (Bo1) group stage matches. FaZe, having advanced to Stage 3 with a 3-2 record in Stage 1 and a perfect 3-0 in Stage 2, displayed excellent performance to take down the reigning Major champions in this Bo1 showdown. karrigan’s tactics, combined with the team’s superb performance alongside Twistzz, were enough to secure the win.
The star of the match was frozen. He achieved a 1.94 rating with 21 kills and only 7 deaths, along with a massive 109.1 ADR. He sat at the top of the match stats with a +8.20% Swing.
On the Vitality side, ZywOo’s performance alone wasn’t enough. FaZe’s team-wide dominance on the map put pressure on ZywOo; the French AWPer finished the match with a 1.11 rating, ending as his team’s top fragger.
Respect from apEX to FaZe Before the Match
The 32-year-old experienced French IGL, apEX, spoke about surprises in a pre-Major interview. In his statement, he mentioned that FaZe is never finished. Following these remarks, they were matched against FaZe, and he was proven right by the experience itself.
“PARIVISION making it to Stage 3 is the biggest surprise for now. So is some teams losing. FaZe never dies, we all know that. Apart from that, I think everything was normal.”
apEX
It is not over yet. The battle continues in the group stage of the Major’s final phase…