Legacy were not supposed to be in the Austin Major in the first place, but now they find themselves in Stage 3 after a huge upset over FaZe Clan.
The Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 continues to produce surprising results as the second day of Stage 2 concluded on Monday (9 June). Brazilian team 
Legacy upset fan-favourites 
FaZe Clan, 2-0, in a best-of-three advancement match in round three to become the first team from Stage 2 to advance to Stage 3.
Legacy were not supposed to be in the Austin Major in the first place. The team finished fourth in the Major's South American regional qualifier back in April, after losing to 
BESTIA in a decider match for the third and final spot in Stage 1 for the region. However, BESTIA failed to secure visas in time for the Major, leading to Legacy becoming a last-minute replacement.
Legacy didn't waste their chance, overcoming a slow start and surviving all five rounds of Stage 1 to become among the eight teams qualified for Stage 2. They then continued rolling by defeating 
MIBR and 
3DMAX to advance to round three, where a FaZe squad fresh off a fiery start to Stage 2 awaited them.
Legacy upset FaZe Clan to advance to Austin Major Stage 3
Legacy were the clear underdogs against FaZe. Despite struggling throughout the year, FaZe entered the Austin Major as arguably the biggest fan-favourite following their massive signing of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive G.O.A.T. 
Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev in May. FaZe lived up to hype in the opening day of Stage 2, as they demolished 
HEROIC and 
TYLOO to advance to round three. Everyone expected they would do the same to Legacy.
The Brazilian squad entered the series with all guns blazing, dominating the first half of game one in Mirage as the CT side by winning the first seven rounds of the half to head into the side switch up 8-4. While FaZe showed signs of life by winning three of the first four rounds of the second half, Legacy responded with four straight rounds to close out Mirage with a comfortable 13-7 win.
Lucas “lux” Meneghini led the way for Legacy in Mirage with 19 frags and six assists on 10 deaths. Edward “dumau” Volkmer and Guilherme “saadzin” Pacheco also added 17 frags apiece and a combined eight assists against 10 and six deaths, respectively.
Meanwhile, only 
Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski and s1mple showed up for FaZe in game one, with EliGE recording 15 frags and two assists on 14 deaths, while s1mple had 11 frags and three assists on 14 deaths. 
Håvard “rain” Nygaard, 
Finn “karrigan” Andersen, and 
David “frozen” Čerňanský all failed to record double-digit frags.
FaZe looked eager for revenge to start game two at Dust II, as they won the first five rounds of the first half as the T side and looked to be in position to force the series to a decider. However, Legacy locked in and responded with a fiery seven-round streak to steal the momentum from their opponents and close out the half with a 7-5 lead.
FaZe looked to mount a comeback by winning the first three rounds of the second half, only for Legacy to answer with five straight rounds to get to within series point. FaZe scored another three-round streaks to threaten overtime, but Legacy surgically secured the 2-0 series sweep by winning round 24 and punching their tickets to Stage 3 of the Austin Major.
Bruno “latto” Rebelatto fueled Legacy's victory in Dust II with 21 frags and seven assists on 12 deaths. Lux also added 19 frags and five assists on 14 deaths, while Vinicius “n1ssim” Pereira and dumau notched 17 frags apiece and a combined 14 assists against 14 and 16 deaths, respectively.
While FaZe played better compared to their stinker in Mirage, it was far from enough to secure them a clean path to Stage 3. Frozen recorded 20 frags and three assists on 13 deaths, EliGE had 14 frags and two assists on 17 deaths, while s1mple added 13 frags and seven assists on 20 deaths. Rain and karrigan continued to underperform with 11 frags apiece on 16 and 21 deaths, respectively.
With their victory in round three of Stage 2, Legacy now advance to Stage 3, where much stronger competition in the likes of 
Team Vitality, 
MOUZ, and 
Team Spirit await. While it remains to be seen if their Cinderella run will continue in the next stage of the Major, they have exceeded all expectations as a last-minute entry to the tournament.
Meanwhile, FaZe still have two more rounds left in Stage 2 to bounce back from this loss and advance to Stage 3. They will next face 3DMAX in round four.
The BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 is the first CS2 Major Championship of the year. From 3 to 6 June, 32 of the best CS2 teams in the world will gather in Austin, Texas to fight across four grueling stages of competition to claim the third CS2 Major title and the lion's share of the tournament's US$1.25 million prize pool.
For everything you need to know about the BLAST.tv Austin Major, check here.
