There’s almost no time left before the Budapest Major, and Valve has already launched every fan’s favorite pastime, the Pick’em Challenge. Today the CS.MONEY Blog will tell you who to pick in the Budapest Major pick’em and point out a few important details.
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CS2 Pick’em Challenge rules
For the first stages, Pick’em rules are the same. You need to predict two teams that will finish the stage with a 3-0 score, two teams that will go out with a 0-3 score, and six teams that will reach the next round with either a 3-1 or 3-2 score.
The most straightforward part is trying to guess a team that will go 0-3. At least a mistake there doesn’t hurt that much, especially since the first two Swiss rounds are Best of 1. The only thing you need to know is that teams that already played in tournament usually gain advantage over those who start the tournament in the Bo1 rounds.
However, predicting who will make it to the next stage is trickier. If you put a team into the 3-0 slot, but they qualify with a 3-1 score, you get 0 points. The opposite is also true: if you pick them as 3-1 and they end the stage 3-0, you still don’t get a correct prediction.
So here’s the idea: for 3-0 you should pick either a team that is clearly much stronger than everyone else, or a risky team that can either destroy everyone or completely flop.
Who to pick in the CS2 Budapest Major Pick’em Challenge for Playoffs?
The Pick’Em format for the playoffs means we set all predictions for the three stages right away. Let’s break it down.
Our pick for the quarterfinals: Team Spirit, Team Vitality, MOUZ, and FURIA. Vitality and FURIA are clear tournament favorites, and their opponents are weaker overall. That makes wins for the French and Brazilian teams pretty likely.
The other two matches are trickier. MOUZ are the stronger team compared to FaZe Clan, but FaZe have shown great mental strength, while MOUZ sometimes lose control in important moments. Still, for this match, we are going with the “mice.”
The matchup between Falcons and Spirit is the most interesting. Individually, Falcons are stronger and have shown better results recently, but NiKo and his teammates lack solid teamplay. Spirit have structure and a clear system, but how will their young players handle the big stage? We are picking the “Dragons” because at some point they can adapt to their opponents. However, if kyousuke and m0NESY start hitting everything, nothing will stop them.
Our pick for the semifinals: Vitality and FURIA. These two teams have the highest chances to reach the final — simple as that.
Our pick for the final: FURIA. The Brazilian team is in incredible shape, and if they keep this momentum, beating them will be almost impossible.
Who to pick in the CS2 Budapest Major Pick’em Challenge for Stage 3?
We expected Stage 2 to be harder, and, unfortunately, it was too hard. Still, the pick’em game continues, and now it is time for our Stage 3 prediction.
3-0 Predictions: The MongolZ and FaZe Clan. Two risky picks, but both teams can either go 3-0 or fail to advance at all. We don’t know how well controlez has fit into The MongolZ lineup. We also don’t know how FaZe Clan will perform against top-tier opponents. Yes, it looks like the players have found their form, but there’s still a feeling that they might collapse in Stage 3. At the same time, they could also roll over everyone on pure momentum, as the individual skill is definitely there.
0-3 Predictions: Team Falcons and Passion UA. And here comes a very controversial opinion. The thing is, NiKo admitted the team didn’t bootcamp before the tournament, since they decided to take a break instead. You relax, and then suddenly you have to play two Best of 1s in one day against teams already warmed up by the event. That could be a big mistake, one they might not recover from. As an alternative, you could even put Team Falcons in 3-0, because they’re a complete mystery.
Passion UA handled Stage 2 well, but it still feels like things will get really tough from here. For the 0-3 slot you can also choose Imperial or Parivision if you prefer: it feels like both teams have already played above their usual level.
3-1/3-2 Predictions: Natus Vincere, Team Vitality, FURIA, Team Spirit, MOUZ, B8. Team Vitality, FURIA, and Team Spirit are tournament favorites. It’s hard to imagine a playoff without them. The question is only the score they’ll finish with. MOUZ and Natus Vincere have the level needed to confidently join those three. The only question is who becomes the sixth team. We picked B8 because they’re solid, and in the first round they have a good chance to beat Falcons, who will just be warming up. After that, it all depends on a bit of luck.
Who to pick in the CS2 Budapest Major Pick’em Challenge for Stage 2?
he first stage of the Budapest Major brought a lot of surprises, but our predictions still worked out. Stage 2 will be even harder, because there are many interesting teams here, and each of them has its own weaknesses. Still, we have to make a prediction — and here is what we picked.
3-0 picks: Aurora Gaming and Ninjas in Pyjamas. Aurora looks like a clear favorite with very strong individual players. Even if the teamplay doesn’t work, you can always hope that XANTARES will carry. The first match against M80 will be a serious test, but Aurora has everything to outshoot their opponents. As for Ninjas in Pyjamas, even though they played very well in Stage 1, we put them in 3-0 to maximize our chances in the 3-1/3-2 category. Their chances to qualify are not super high, but if they get lucky and catch a hot streak, NiP can even finish 3-0.
0-3 picks: PassionUA and MiBR. Even though teams like Imperial and FaZe Clan made it through Stage 1 despite playing pretty badly, we still won’t put them in 0-3. The reason is simple: they are already warmed up by Bo1 matches and have decent matchups in the first round. But MiBR and PassionUA don’t look strong right now. Another possible 0-3 candidate is TyLoo.
3-1/3-2 picks: Natus Vincere, 3DMAX, Team Liquid, Astralis, M80, and FlyQuest. The first four teams have a solid core, and if nothing falls apart in Hungary, they should be able to reach the next stage just by playing their game (they can even go 3-0, but the chances are not that high). FlyQuest and M80 looked great in Stage 1, and they also have a good shot at making it to Stage 3 if they keep playing this well.
Who to pick in the CS2 Budapest Major Pick’em Challenge for Stage 1?
Our 3-0 predictions: Legacy and GamerLegion. In our opinion, Legacy are the main favorites of the first stage. The guys play strong, confident, and stable CS. They already have Major experience, and compared to most other teams they look like clear favorites.
GamerLegion are our second 3-0 pick. On paper, FaZe Clan look more star-studded, but they don’t inspire much confidence right now. At the same time, GL have a key factor of success: their coach Ash. With very little prep time for each opponent, he can still come up with cool ideas. Even though he modestly put his own team into the 3-1 / 3-2 category, GL have every chance to finish Stage 1 without a single loss.
Our 0-3 predictions: Red Canids and Rare Atom. If you look at the rankings of all participants, there are three clear underdogs: Red Canids, The Huns, and Rare Atom. The Mongolian team stands out from the other two because recently they’ve won several local LAN tournaments and also tested themselves at CS Asia Championships 2025. Yes, they got crushed there without a chance, but that’s still useful experience. As for Red Canids and Rare Atom, their current form raises a lot of questions.
Our 3-1 and 3-2 predictions: FaZe Clan, Parivision, B8, Fnatic, Lynn Vision, and FlyQuest. We can say that FaZe Clan, Parivision, and Fnatic all have super experienced players and enough firepower. We’re talking about Karrigan (and Twistzz), Jame, and KRIMZ with blameF, respectively. B8 are just a very solid team that should reach the next stage simply by playing their game. As for Lynn Vision and FlyQuest, these are teams many people tend to ignore only to be suddenly surprised. No stage goes by without upsets, and we believe Lynn Vision and FlyQuest can be the ones delivering them.
Budapest Major kicks off on November 24, which means you still have about a week to lock in your predictions.
