Welcome to all esports and Counter-Strike 2 fans! From November 24 to December 14, 2025, the biggest tournament of the autumn–winter part of the season — StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 is taking place. A total of 32 teams are competing for the championship title and a prize pool of $1,250,000. Among the Stage 3 Round 1 matches, we highlight Vitality vs FaZe, which promises to be highly entertaining. While the teams are preparing, we’ll share our CS2 betting tips and insights for this match.
How the bookies view it: Vitality favorite
Most bookmakers consider Vitality the favorite in the match against FaZe at the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025. The team is the strongest this season and has secured the most victories at top-tier tournaments.
Vitality form. What result can be expected from Vitality
Our betting tips and CS2 picks for the Vitality vs FaZe matchup begin with analyzing Vitality form. After the triumphant Paris Major, Vitality said goodbye to Dupreeh, and flameZ took his place. The ‘newcomer’ Vitality has already managed to adapt and demonstrates a good level of play and has good statistics. By the way, he started his ascent to the big stage with OG.
Vitality roster: apEX, ZywOo, mezii, ropz, flameZ.
Let's begin the story of the team with the 2023 season. In their debut match at IEM Cologne 2023, Vitality confirmed their status as one of the strongest Counter-Strike teams. After defeating OG, Vitality went up against MOUZ, whom the "Bees" crushed with scores of 16-4 and 16-5.
In the playoff seeding match, Vitality faced another top-tier team — G2 Esports. It was a close match, with Vitality narrowly taking a 19-17 win on Inferno in overtime, but then losing 10-16 on Vertigo and 8-16 on Mirage. In the playoffs, Vitality played against Cloud9 and came out victorious, but were then eliminated in the semifinals by ENCE with a 1-2 scoreline.
Finishing in the top 4 at IEM Cologne didn’t discourage Vitality — on the contrary, it only fueled their motivation. By the end of the year, the team secured three more titles: they took revenge on ENCE in the grand final of Gamers8 and defeated FaZe twice at BLAST events (Fall Final 2023 and World Final 2023).
Vitality kicked off the 2024 season in high spirits. Before participating in the PGL CS2 Copenhagen Major 2024: European RMR B, the team competed in BLAST Premier: Spring Groups, where they had no trouble advancing through the group stage. At the RMR event,
Vitality easily defeated GamerLegion and Heroic, dropping only 5 rounds across two maps. However, they then suffered a setback with a loss to Cloud9 but bounced back with a win over ENCE to secure a spot at the Major.
At the first Major tournament of the season — PGL CS2 Copenhagen Major 2024 — Vitality reached the top 4 but were eliminated by FaZe Clan. They then took part in ESL Pro League Season 19, where they again confidently made it to the grand final, though were decisively defeated by MOUZ.
At IEM Dallas 2024 — one of the key tournaments ahead of EWC 2024 — Vitality started strong with a win over Monte and then easily beat G2 Esports. However, in the playoff seeding match, they unexpectedly lost 0-2 to 9z Team. In the playoffs themselves, they performed much better, defeating Heroic 2-0 and then Spirit, but ultimately losing to G2 Esports in the final.
Before participating in the Esports World Cup 2024, Vitality competed at BLAST Premier: Spring Final, where they placed in the top 4. At EWC 2024, Vitality started successfully with a win over M80, securing direct advancement to the playoffs.
At the "Riyadh Major," Vitality finished in the top 8 — a result that was below expectations for the team. However, they proved their elite status by winning Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2024. At the end of the season, they played at PW Shanghai Major 2024, where they made it to the main stage but were knocked out in the very first round by FaZe.
After that, the team played at such tournaments as IEM Katowice 2025, BLAST Open Lisbon 2025, IEM Melbourne 2025, BLAST Rivals Season 1 and IEM Dallas 2025 and won all of them, keeping their winning streak alive. It’s also worth highlighting the team’s victory at the Blast.tv Austin Major 2025. Thus, Vitality’s winning streak at S-tier tournaments now totals 8 wins.
At IEM Cologne 2025, Vitality for the first time failed to win a tournament after their win streak and finished in 3rd-4th place. It became noticeable that the team’s level of play had dropped, and they were no longer showing the same high level as earlier in the season. Their performance at BLAST Bounty Fall 2025 at the Esports World Cup 2025 can also be considered unsuccessful, as the team again finished in the top 4.
Vitality also played at BLAST Open Fall 2025, defeating MOUZ 2-0 in the semifinals but losing to G2 2-3 in the grand final, finishing in second place.
At ESL Pro League Season 22, the Vitality team started with an unexpected loss to M8, but quickly recovered, winning the next matches against GamerLegion, HOTU, and G2 Esports.
In the playoffs, Vitality were unstoppable — the team defeated FURIA, FaZe Clan, and in the grand final triumphed over Team Falcons 3-0, becoming the tournament champions.
At IEM Chengdu 2025, Vitality also played well, finishing in 2nd place.
At BLAST Rivals Fall 2025, the team performed slightly below the expected level, finishing in the top 4.
FaZe form. What result can be expected from FaZe
We continue our CS2 tips with analyzing FaZe form. At CS Asia Championship 2023 FaZe confidently advanced to the playoffs through Group B. Thanks to an unquestionable first place, the team went straight to the semifinals of the tournament. There FaZe went through a series of head-to-head matches: first they defeated ENCE 2-1, and in the grand final they beat MOUZ 2-0.
FaZe Clan roster: karrigan, Twistzz, Frozen, broky, jcobbb.
This victory was followed by 2nd place finishes at BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023 and BLAST Premier: World Final 2023.
The 2024 season also started successfully for FaZe. The team won or reached the prize places at 5 consecutive tournaments, including 2nd place at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 and 1st place at Intel Extreme Masters Chengdu 2024.
Then a series of "failures" awaited FaZe. They finished TOP-8 at EPL Season 19, TOP-6 at IEM Dallas 2024 and BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2024, TOP-8 at Esports World Cup 2024 and TOP-12 at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024.
At IEM Cologne 2024, FaZe started with a win over Team Liquid, but lost to Vitality in the playoffs. After falling to the lower bracket, FaZe defeated Falcons 2-0, and then scored their best win of the tournament, completing a comeback against Liquid from a 3-12 scoreline. However, that momentum was not enough: FaZe lost to sAw and finished the tournament in TOP-6.
Later, FaZe played at BLAST Premier: Fall Showdown 2024, where they finished TOP-1-2.
At ESL Pro League S20 FaZe once again failed to show their level of play, finishing 13-16th.
After this failure, FaZe placed TOP-4 at BLAST Premier: Fall Finals 2024, and also TOP-8 at Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024.
At BLAST Premier: World Final 2024, in Group A, FaZe went 1-1: they first lost to MOUZ, but then snatched a win in a knockout match against NaVi. However, in the playoffs they were defeated by Team Spirit and finished in TOP-6.
FaZe Clan returned to a high level of play at Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024. The team defeated Wildcard and Heroic, but then lost to the same Heroic, and later to G2. They won the deciding match against FURIA, qualifying for the playoffs. In the playoff stage FaZe beat Vitality, and then eliminated one of the main tournament favorites — G2 Esports — in a tense 2-0 series. In the grand final they lost to Spirit 1-2.
At IEM Katowice 2025, FaZe started in the upper bracket of Group A, where they defeated BIG, but lost to Vitality. In the second round of the lower bracket they beat G2 Esports, but their playoff run was blocked by Eternal Fire.
At PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025, the first signs of top-tier FaZe appeared this season. The team defeated sAw, then overcame Eternal Fire and MOUZ, qualifying for the playoffs with a 3-0 record. On the main stage, they once again confidently beat sAw, but unexpectedly lost to Falcons, finishing in TOP-4.
FaZe also competed at BLAST Open Lisbon 2025, finishing TOP-12.
Another solid showing came at PGL Bucharest 2025, where FaZe, despite starting with a loss to Astralis, went on to defeat paiN and Rare Atom. In the 2-1 match they lost to CoL, but advanced to the playoffs after beating Apogee. In the first playoff round FaZe defeated 3DMax 2-0, but then lost to Falcons. In the match for TOP-3 they safely defeated CoL.
Then FaZe again returned to mediocre results, finishing TOP-8 at IEM Melbourne 2025, BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025, and Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2025, as well as poor showings at Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2025 (TOP-12), BLAST Bounty Fall 2025: Closed Qualifier and Esports World Cup 2025 (TOP-16).
At BLAST Open Fall 2025: Closed Qualifier, FaZe Clan finally pleased their fans with a high level of play. The team defeated ESTATIC 2-1 and NaVi 2-0 but lost 1-2 to Vitality, finishing 3-4th and earning a slot in the main event.
At BLAST Open Fall 2025, FaZe performed unsuccessfully, losing 0-2 to G2 in the first match and exiting the tournament in TOP-6.
At ESL Pro League Season 22, FaZe started with a technical defeat to G2 due to a roster mismatch. In the second round, the team lost to 3DMAX with a score of 0-2, but won the next three matches and qualified for the playoffs. In the first playoff match, FaZe Clan defeated Team Spirit, but then lost to Vitality and MOUZ in the Third Place Match, finishing 4th.
At IEM Chengdu 2025, the team performed unsuccessfully, finishing in the top 16.
Recent head to head
Vitality and FaZe have played each other 33 times, with the former winning 20 and the latter winning 13. The matches between these teams are always spectacular, and their clash at the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 is expected to continue this trend.
Which maps does Vitality pick and ban most often?
Let’s analyze both teams map statistics to make smart CS2 picks.
Strong maps
- Dust2: high win percentage (87.5%) with 32 matches played.
- Inferno: high win percentage (76.7%) with 43 matches played.
- Nuke: high win percentage (71.4%) with 35 matches played.
- Mirage: high win percentage (69.4%) with 36 matches played.
- Train: high win percentage (66.7%) with 21 matches played.
- Anubis: high win percentage (66.7%) with 9 matches played.
Weak maps
- Ancient: low win percentage (0.0%) with 1 matches played.
Which maps does FaZe pick and ban most often?
Strong maps
- Ancient: high win percentage (62.9%) with 35 matches played.
- Nuke: high win percentage (57.1%) with 28 matches played.
- Anubis: high win percentage (56.2%) with 16 matches played.
Average results
- Mirage: average winning percentage (53.3%) with 30 matches played.
- Dust2: average winning percentage (51.5%) with 33 matches played.
Weak maps
- Inferno: low win percentage (48.1%) with 27 matches played.
- Train: low win percentage (25.0%) with 4 matches played.
Predicted result of the match between Vitality and FaZe at StarLadder Budapest Major 2025
Most analysts and experts consider Vitality the favorite in the match against FaZe at the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025. The team is the strongest this season and has achieved the most victories at top-tier tournaments. However, FaZe should not be underestimated — the team is also among the strong contenders and is showing a good level of play at this tournament. In our opinion, Vitality will win this match. Fans should expect a dynamic and exciting game.
Betting prediction: Vitality wins.
