StarLadder Budapest Major 2025: Betting guide, best odds
The final heavyweight Counter-Strike 2 event of the year is almost here, and as 32 teams come to Budapest for a shot at the StarLadder Major 2025 trophy, bettors sizing up the field will find the best odds, picks, and everything else they’ll need right here in our event betting guide.
StarLadder is back at the top of the game for the first time since the 2019 Berlin Major, where Astralis walked away with the trophy. Back then, the Danish team sat comfortably at the top, and bettors had a fairly easy time picking winners. But here in 2025, the CS2 world is looking far more volatile. Several teams are packed tightly together in Valve’s official VRS rankings, all fighting for the number-one spot. StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 is expected to be messy, with the odds suggesting plenty of room for upsets and favorites slipping. Bettors may want to approach their picks with a bit more caution this time around.
With 32 teams competing, only eight will reach the playoffs, and only one will lift the trophy while paying off their outright odds.
StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 overview
| Event | StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 |
|---|---|
| Dates | November 24-December 14 |
| First-place prize | $500,000 |
| Overall prize | $1,250,000 |
| Teams | 32 |
| Venue | MVM Dome |
Who are the betting favorites at StarLadder Budapest Major 2025?
The latter half of the CS2 season has been turbulent, and the betting odds at the StarLadder Budapest Major reflect that chaos. Teams that looked like safe picks earlier in the year now have several rivals breathing down their necks.
Team Vitality opened 2025 strong with a win streak at S-tier events before finally dropping a series at IEM Cologne. Even after that stumble, it stayed near the top of most bookmakers’ lists thanks to steady top-three finishes at such events as BLAST Bounty Fall and the Esports World Cup.
Team Vitality player ZywOo. Credit: Team Vitality
Vitality is still an outright odds betting favorite at 3.40, but Falcons sits at the exact same number, and bettors seem just as confident in them. It’s a bit strange on paper, since Falcons’ 2025 run isn’t nearly as stacked as Vitality’s. That’s why it has quietly become the dark-horse pick: not the obvious choice, but the one that could cash out hard if things line up just right.
Falcons did appear near to flawless at BLAST Rivals Fall until a loss to FURIA in the finals. It also swept Vitality at that same event, which makes its matching 3.40 odds feel less odd than they may initially appear.
Both teams are solid picks, but identical odds do mean bettors have to look beyond the surface. If you believe recent form matters most, Falcons make more sense. If you think Vitality’s latest stumbles were just some off days rather than signs of a real decline, sticking with them is still the safer call.
While Team Vitality and Falcons are both relatively safe picks, FURIA is the pick many bettors are leaning toward in pursuit of a better payout. The Brazilian roster is on a strong winning streak and hasn’t shown many weaknesses of late. The streak started with their win over NAVI at the Thunderpick World Championship, even if that event didn’t include every top team. What mattered more were the follow-ups: an upset win against Vitality at IEM Chengdu 2025, and then another repeat over Vitality at BLAST Rivals Fall before taking the title there. Those results have made FURIA an intriguing for outright bets at the Budapest Major.
Teams hoping to shut down FURIA have a bigger task ahead of them than they might think, because both of their recent finals wins showed the same pattern: they aren’t relying on a single player to carry the load. Andrey “Molodoy” Golubev, Yuri “yuurih” Santos, and Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis all posted ratings above 1.10. Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato stepped up whenever needed, even reaching up to a 2.10 rating in a game against paiN at Rivals.
With Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo calling the shots, the FURIA lineup looks well-rounded, which is why many bettors consider them one of the best outright odds picks at the StarLadder Budapest Major.
StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 outright odds
| Team | Outright Odds |
|---|---|
| FURIA | 2.70 |
| Vitality | 3.40 |
| Falcons | 3.40 |
| Team Spirit | 5.80 |
| MOUZ | 7.00 |
| Aurora | 9.00 |
| G2 Esports | 5.80 |
| Passion UA | 30.00 |
| Natus Vincere | 10.00 |
| TYLOO | 35.00 |
| PaiN Gaming | 30.00 |
| MongolZ | 17.00 |
| FaZe | 20.00 |
| Team Liquid | 20.00 |
| Legacy | 20.00 |
| Astralis | 30.00 |
| Red Canids | 100.00 |
| 3DMax | 30.00 |
| GamerLegion | 35.00 |
| The Huns Esports | 100.00 |
| Rare Atom | 100.00 |
| PARIVISION | 40.00 |
| FNATIC | 40.00 |
| NIP | 40.00 |
| B8 | 40.00 |
| MIBR | 50.00 |
| M80 | 50.00 |
| NRG | 75.00 |
| FLYQUEST | 75.00 |
| Lynn Vision | 75.00 |
| Imperial | 75.00 |
| Fluxo | 75.00 |
CS2 betting odds via Stake @ November 21, 12:30 PM ET.
Best teams to bet on at StarLadder Budapest Major 2025
While the odds point to a few clear favorites, bettors should still keep a few things in mind before locking in their StarLadder Budapest Major picks. FURIA is a strong outrights choice, but Team Vitality’s recent losses don’t suddenly erase the strength of their roster. Vitality still fields Robin “ropz” Kool and Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut, backed by the proven leadership of Dan “apEX” Madesclaire, who will want to close out the year on a high note.
Vitality hasn’t looked sharp at the last few events, but this is the biggest CS2 Major of the season, and they’re expected to show up with a much stronger performance.
Team FURIA players. Image credits @ FURIA on X.
Those who don’t want to gamble on potential and “maybes” will still see FURIA as a better choice. They’ve already beaten the top-rated teams multiple times this season, and they look more polished than they have in years.
One key factor is the return of Overpass. The Budapest Major is the first Major to feature the map again since it was shelved, and FURIA holds an 82% win rate on it. Even at BLAST Rivals Fall and IEM Chengdu 2025, they picked Overpass frequently and won it consistently, which only strengthens their case as the reliable outright pick. This should be considered when making picks at any reputable esports betting site.
Of course, if bettors are looking for a higher return on their outright odds bets, they’ll need to look further down the table where there are some legitimate dark horse teams to consider at the StarLadder Budapest Major.
MOUZ isn’t a weak pick by any stretch, especially since it was the only team to take down FURIA in the upper bracket of IEM Chengdu 2025. The addition of Lotan “Spinx” Giladi has also given the roster a significant boost, helping them finish in the top five at multiple S-tier events this year.
Team Spirit sits in a similar place: it came close to breaking into the top four at BLAST Rivals Fall but fell just short. On paper, Spirit has everything it needs to pull off a major upset. With Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov, Danil “donk” Kryshkovets, and Leonid “chopper” Vishnyakov on the same roster, the team has more than enough firepower and tactical acumen to ruin someone’s bracket.
Aurora also comes in as a dark-horse pick, especially with İsmailcan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş looking sharp with a recent 1.25 rating.
Team Astralis player device
Another team that shouldn’t be written off for those looking to score with long-shot bets is Astralis. Their year hasn’t been impressive overall, but Astralis still managed a fifth-place finish at IEM Chengdu 2025. With some of the biggest names in CS2 on the roster and Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen at the helm, Astralis has enough experience and structure to be a reasonable choice for long-shot bettors.
Teams to avoid betting on at StarLadder Budapest Major 2025
While upsets are always possible, some teams are better left out of outright bets. With 32 contenders in play, plenty of sides fall outside the realistic contenders. Even a few well-known names may look tempting on paper, but bettors should still steer clear of them for this Major.
FNATIC is no longer the same team that could lift trophies at S-tier events, at least not in its current form. The team’s results in 2025 have dropped off significantly, placing it in the 30-50 range in the global ranking rather than contending for titles. Rare Atom showed a glimpse of potential in late 2024 and early 2025, but the team hasn’t been able to turn that into meaningful results. Most of its 2025 showings ended in early exits with little consistency across events.
NiP’s roster shakeup might tempt some bettors, but the Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer-led roster has had most of 2025 to find its footing and still hasn’t produced the kind of results that suggest a real Major run is a possibility. Meanwhile, Imperial Esports, though showing occasional flashes of strength the in South American circuit, remains outside the elite tier globally and has not posted consistent runs at top CS2 events.
StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 match schedule
The StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 runs from November 24 to December 14 and is split into three Swiss stages, followed by a knockout playoffs round.
Stage 1 takes place from November 24–27 with 16 teams playing in a Swiss format, where matches are best-of-one and all elimination and advancement games are best-of-three. The top eight teams move into Stage 2, held from November 29 to December 2, which follows the exact same structure with another group of 16 teams.
Those eight winners then join the final 16 teams in Stage 3 from December 4–7, again using the same Swiss format to determine the last eight playoff teams. The playoffs run from December 11–14 at the MVM Dome in Budapest, Hungary, and will use a single-elimination bracket. Every match is best-of-three except the grand final, which is played as a best-of-five.
StarLadder Budapest Major stage 3 – Dec 4 to Dec 7
Stage 3 is packed with tight matchups, with paiN Gaming vs 3DMAX and Team Vitality vs FaZe giving bettors the worst headache. Vitality might still be a fan favorite in 2025, but its recent slump and FaZe’s 3-0 run in this stage make the matchup far closer than it looks. Safer bets this round are FURIA, Falcons, MongolZ, and Team Spirit, while FaZe, 3DMAX, and Imperial sit in the value tier for anyone willing to flirt with risk.
Team Vitality (1.38) vs FaZe (3.30)
FURIA (1.48) vs NAVI (2.80)
Team Falcons (1.28) vs B8 (4.00)
MongolZ (1.58) vs Imperial (2.50)
MOUZ (1.38) vs Parivision (3.30)
Team Spirit (1.40) vs Team Liquid (3.20)
G2 Esports (1.52) vs Passion UA (2.70)
paiN Gaming (1.90) vs 3DMax (1.98)
StarLadder Budapest Major playoffs – Dec 11 to 14
This betting guide should help bettors to place better-informed bets on the StarLadder Budapest Major, from outright odds at the event’s outset to match picks as the tournament gets underway. This guide will continue to be updated as the event progresses with new matches and odds for those matches, all pulled from top esports betting platform Stake.
Featured image credit: StarLadder 2019
Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.
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