Team Vitality and FaZe Clan won their respective semifinal matches on Saturday to advance to Sunday’s grand final at the StarLadder Budapest Major in Hungary.
Team Vitality swept Team Spirit 2-0, while FaZe Clan went the distance to beat Natus Vincere 2-1 to advance and compete for a $500,000 grand prize at the three-week tournament.
Thirty-two teams began play in the $1.25 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event, which featured three consecutive Swiss System stages ahead of the playoffs.
Sixteen teams competed in each Swiss System stage. Eight invited teams started in Stage 2, and eight more got a bye into Stage 3. In each Swiss System stage, elimination and advancement matches were best-of-three and all others were best-of-one.
The tournament concludes with a single-elimination playoff stage. All matches were best-of-three until Sunday’s grand final, which is best-of-five.
On Saturday, Team Vitality went to overtime to defeat Team Spirit 19-17 on Mirage before closing out the sweep 13-8 on Dust II. Robin “ropz” Kool of Estonia posted 46 kills and a plus-15 kills-deaths differential for Team Vitality.
FaZe Clan took a 13-5 loss to Natus Vincere on Ancient, but bounced back with consecutive wins on Nuke (13-11) and Inferno (13-8) to advance to the grand final. Canada’s Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken sparked FaZe Clan with 48 kills and a plus-4 differential.
The tournament concludes Sunday with the grand final:
–Team Vitality vs. FaZe Clan
StarLadder Budapest Major prize pool
1. $500,000
2. $170,000
3-4. $80,000 — Team Spirit, Natus Vincere
5-8. $45,000 — Team Falcons, The MongolZ, MOUZ, FURIA
9-11. $20,000 — B8, G2 Esports, Passion UA
12-14. $20,000 — Imperial Esports, 3DMAX, paiN Gaming
15-16. $20,000 — Team Liquid, PARIVISION
17-19. $10,000 — Ninjas in Pyjamas, M80, Astralis
20-22. $10,000 — Fnatic, Aurora Gaming, TYLOO
23-24. $10,000 — MIBR, FlyQuest
25-27. No money — Legacy, Fluxo, NRG
28-30. No money — RED Canids, The Huns Esports, GamerLegion
31-32. No money — Lynn Vision Gaming, Rare Atom
–Field Level Media
