Legacy, Virtus.pro lead the eight teams qualified for CS2 Austin Major Stage 3

Underdog squads Legacy and Lynn Vision Gaming were among those to make Stage 3, but the biggest favourites in Team Falcons surprisingly bowed out early.

Stage 2 of the Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 concluded on Wednesday (11 June) after four action-packed days of competition that produced plenty of upsets and surprising results.

Legacy and Virtus.pro (VP) didn't drop a single map in Stage 2 to lead the pack of eight teams advancing to Stage 3. Rounding out the list of teams that survived Stage 2 are paiN Gaming, 3DMAX, FURIA Esports, FaZe Clan, Nemiga Gaming, and Lynn Vision Gaming (LVG). Those eight teams from Stage 2 will then join Team Vitality, MOUZ, Team Spirit, Aurora Gaming, Natus Vincere, G2 Esports, Team Liquid, and The MongolZ in competing for eight spots in the Austin Major Playoffs in Stage 3.

Meanwhile, B8, MIBR, HEROIC, TYLOO, M80, BetBoom Team, OG, and–most surprising of all–Team Falcons failed to make it out of Stage 2 and had their runs in Austin ended out of the Top 16.

Here's how all the action in Stage 2 of the Austin Major went down:

Legacy and VP cruise through Stage 2

Brazilian team Legacy are on one heck of a Cinderall run in the Austin Major. They were not supposed to be in the Major in the first place, as they 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 (13-10 at Nuke) and 3DMAX (13-7 at Inferno) to advance to round three. Legacy then secured their spot in Stage 3 in a massive upset over fan-favourites FaZe, routing them in Mirage (13-7) and Dust II (13-11).

VP were a solid pick to make Stage 3, but they exceeded expectations with a clean run through Stage 2 that saw them secure the best round differential of the stage. They opened their campaign by stomping OG (13-2 in Inferno) and B8 (13-3 in Inferno) in the first two rounds, before sweeping paiN in Dust II (13-10) and Mirage (16-13) in round three to advance.

PaiN, 3DMAX, and FURIA advance with 3-1 records

PaiN and FURIA rounded out the contingent of Brazilian teams that have shown out so far in the Austin Major, advancing after four rounds in Stage 2 to join their countrymen in Legacy over in Stage 3. 

PaiN defeated Nemiga (13-7 in Dust II) in round one, before overcoming FURIA (13-11 in Dust II) in an all-Brazil showdown in round three. While paiN fell to VP in round three, they routed LVG in Dust II (13-8) and Nuke (13-4) to secure their spot in Stage 3. FURIA's journey through Stage 2, on the other hand, saw them score wins over LVG (13-4 in Nuke) and M80 (13-8 in Dust II) in rounds one and three. They then defeated B8 in a 2-1 reverse sweep with wins at Train (13-6) and (Dust II) in round four.

Meanwhile, French squad 3DMAX were another team with a surprisingly strong showing. They opened their campaign by stomping BetBoom (13-4 in Anubis) in round one before falling to Legacy in the next round. 3DMAX bounced back by defeating Nemiga (13-11 in Dust II) before handing FaZe another upset loss in round four, sweeping them in Nuke (13-8) and Inferno (13-9), to advance to Stage 3.

But while the third day of Stage 2 saw three teams advance, the biggest highlight of the day was MIBR's massive upset over Falcons.

Falcons were by far the biggest favourites to cruise through Stage 2, thanks in large part to its star-studded roster led by the duo of Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov and Nikola “NiKo” Kovač. However, Falcons stumbled to start their campaign in Austin as they were upset by B8 (8-13 in Ancient) and LVG (9-13 in Nuke) in the opening day of Stage 2. They then bounced back by pulling off a reverse sweep over OG, with wins at Nuke (13-10) and Mirage (13-6) in round three, to face off against MIBR in round four. 

After Falcons handily won the opening game of their series versus MIBR in Ancient (13-6), many thought the former had finally played their way back into form. Instead, MIBR controlled Nuke (13-9) and outlasted Falcons in a triple overtime thriller at Inferno (22-20) to complete the biggest upset of the year.

FaZe, LVG, and Nemiga survive final day of Stage 2

Six teams entered the final day of Stage 2 with one last chance to qualify for Stage 3, namely FaZe, MIBR, Nemiga, HEROIC, LVG, and B8. 

Nemiga kicked the day off by soundly sweeping HEROIC in Mirage (13-11) and Dust II (13-9). This marked a disappointing result for HEROIC, a team that have quickly risen through the ranks since being formed in January, and were previously pegged as a big favourite to make it to Stage 3.

Up next was a back-and-forth series between LVG and B8, with LVG emerging victorious after three maps with wins at Dust II (13-2) and Anubis (13-7). LVG advancing into Stage 3 notably marked the first time since FACEIT Major: London 2018 that a Chinese team managed to make it to the Top 16 of a Major. LVG rifler Tang “EmiliaQAQ” Junjie has also become a beloved figure in the community for his stellar play in the team's Major campaign so far, as well as his bombastic pop-offs and hilarious interviews.

Finally, fan-favourites FaZe completed a rollercoaster run through Stage 2 to advance to Stage 3, bringing Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev one step closer to returning to a Major Playoffs stage. FaZe had a fiery start to Stage 2, stomping HEROIC (13-3 in Dust II) and TYLOO (13-5 in Anubis) in the first two rounds, before having their momentum halted in back-to-back losses to Legacy and 3DMAX.

FaZe's final hurdle was an MIBR squad fresh off a massive upset over Falcons. Despite being the better team on paper, the odds weren't exactly in FaZe's favour given MIBR's resurgence and their own recent struggles. However, FaZe finally locked in and swept MIBR in Anubis (13-4) and Ancient in overtime (16-12) to become the final team to qualify for Stage 3 of the Austin Major.

With the conclusion of Stage 2, there will be a one-day break before the competition in the Austin Major resumes in Stage 3. Here are the round one matchups for Stage 3 of the Austin Major:

• Team Vitality vs Legacy
• MOUZ vs Virtus.pro
• Team Spirit vs paiN Gaming
• G2 Esports vs 3DMAX
• The MongolZ vs FURIA Esports
• Aurora Gaming vs FaZe Clan
• Natus Vincere vs Nemiga Gaming
• Team Liquid vs Lynn Vision Gaming

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.