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StarLadder's Budapest Major will have a best-of-five grand final for the first-time

The tournament organiser is stepping away from its own traditions to appease hungry fans.
Ben Lyons Senior Editor 5 November 2025

There are only a handful of notable Counter-Strike 2 tournaments left in the 2025 calendar, and on this front, one such example is the StarLadder Budapest Major, which will run between November 24 and December 14. The massive tournament will see 32 teams clashing during that time and each hunting for a slice of a $1.25 million prize pool, but getting there will now be slightly more challenging.

StarLadder has revealed that it's going away from its own traditions and for the first-time ever, offering a best-of-five grand finals match for the mega tournament. Yep, the two finalist teams will need to win three maps to be crowned champion at this event, a decision that assuming one team doesn't wipe the other 3-0, will extend the series quite significantly.

https://x.com/StarLadder_CS/status/1985702838346150218

For more on the Budapest Major, you can find the 32 qualified teams by heading over here.

Senior Editor Ben was a Senior Editor at Gamereactor UK. When he wasn’t writing, editing or filming for Gamereactor, he could usually be found playing an FPS or getting lost in a sprawling RPG.
Full profile Gamereactor author since October 2020 · 18,577 published articles
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