The biggest winter tournament is in full swing, but the Budapest Major playoffs are still far away. While the strongest teams haven’t entered the battle yet, the CS.MONEY Blog will tell you about the five main favorites of the Budapest Major.
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FURIA
- FalleN
- yuurih
- YEKINDAR
- KSCERATO
- molodoy
Let’s start with the leaders of the world rankings. When FURIA signed molodoy from AMKAL in April this year, even the most hardcore CS fans were asking: “Why?” Now everything is different: everyone admits that FalleN found a real gem and built a sick team around him. FURIA is having an insane autumn: in the last three months they’ve won four big tournaments and are one of the main favorites of the event right now.
What can help them win the tournament: molodoy’s skill, insane current form.
What can stop them from becoming champions: opponents’ prep, mental pressure.
Team Vitality
- apEX
- ropz
- ZywOo
- flameZ
- mezii
Another huge favorite to win the trophy. Team Vitality dominated the first half of 2025, and their roster is almost flawless. The real question is whether the team managed to prepare properly for the event and peak in form. If they did, stopping the French club will be incredibly tough.
What can help them win the tournament: superstar roster, ZywOo domination
What can stop them from becoming champions: drop in form, opponents catching momentum.
Team Spirit
- chopper
- sh1ro
- tN1R
- donk
- zweih
Never underestimate a team that has donk, the best player of 2024. Team Spirit decided to hit the reset button and picked up two talented young riflers. In theory, that firepower is enough to shoot their way to first place. In practice, it’s not clear how the newcomers will handle the pressure of the Budapest Major.
What can help them win the tournament: donk, youth, agression
What can stop them from becoming champions: predictable calls from chopper, inconsistent performance.
Team Falcons
- NiKo
- TeSeS
- m0NESY
- kyxsan
- kyousuke
Team Falcons probably have the strongest lineup in terms of raw individual skill. But there are still a lot of questions about this five, because they haven’t turned into a fully polished team yet. Recently NiKo said that the squad decided to skip bootcamp before the Budapest Major, which also raises doubts about their discipline. How hungry are the players for trophies? We’re about to find out.
Why they can win the tournament: individual play, superstar power.
What can stop them from becoming champions: no bootcamp, low team chemistry.
The MongolZ
- bLitz
- Techno
- mzinho
- 910
- controlez
We’ll finish our list with a team that has been playing bright, but decided to change the roster shortly before the event in Hungary. The MongolZ are pure magic. This is a squad that can upset literally anyone, even if they aren’t on the same favorite level as FURIA or Team Vitality. Will they hit their momentum at the right time? That’s the key question.
What can help them win the tournament: momentum, fearless playstyle
What can stop them from becoming champions: no magic run, consistent play from top opponents.
The Budapest Major champion will be crowned in the grand final on December 14. For the first time, a CS2 major will have a best-of-5 main event.
