After three stages of intense competition, only eight out of 32 teams survived to compete in the Austin Major Playoffs in the Moody Center.
Only eight teams remain in championship contention in the Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025, following the tournament's Stage 3 conclusion on Monday (16 June).
Three of the biggest favourites to win the Major, namely 
Team Vitality, 
FaZe Clan, and 
Team Spirit, lead the pack of eight teams qualified for the Playoffs in Austin's Moody Center. Rounding out the list of Playoff-qualified teams are 
FURIA Esports, 
Natus Vincere (NAVI), 
The MongolZ, 
MOUZ, and 
paiN Gaming.
Meanwhile, 
Virtus.pro (VP), 
Legacy, 
G2 Esports, 
Aurora Gaming, 
3DMAX, 
Lynn Vision Gaming (LVG), 
Nemiga Gaming, and 
Team Liquid failed to qualify for the Playoffs.
Here's how all the action in Stage 3 of the Austin Major went down:
Vitality, FaZe, and Spirit lead Playoff-qualified teams at Austin Major
Vitality were far and away the biggest favourites to claim the championship of the Austin Major. Following their landmark signing of 
Robin “ropz” Kool in January to become their second star alongside 
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut, Vitality have absolutely dominated the scene by winning six straight tournaments and claiming the ESL Grand Slam Season 5 championship. The French squad also built up a streak of 30 consecutive match victories, halfway to the all-time record of 60 set by 
Ninjas in Pyjamas all the way back in 2013.
However, Vitality's streak was ended in their first best-of-one match of the Austin Major by Legacy, a team that weren't supposed to be here in the first place. Legacy came in as a last-minute replacement for 
BESTIA, who failed to secure visas in time for the Major, and survived five rounds in Stage 1 before securing a spot in Stage 3 with a perfect run in Stage 2.
But after stumbling versus Legacy, Vitality quickly bounced back with three straight victories over Nemiga, 3DMAX, and VP to qualify for the Playoffs. While their historic match win streak has been ended, Vitality still have a streak of six consecutive tournament victories they can extend by claiming the championship in the Austin Major.
While Vitality are inarguably the best team in Austin, they are not the fan favourites. That honour goes to FaZe, who signed Counter-Strike: Global Offensive G.O.A.T. 
Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev in a last-ditch attempt to improve for the Major after struggling all year. That gambit has worked masterfully so far.
FaZe started the Major in Stage 2 on fire by winning in their first two best-of-one matches versus 
HEROIC and 
TYLOO to get in position for a clean advancement into Stage 3. FaZe then faltered in back-to-back upsets to Legacy and 3DMAX before emerging victorious in a do-or-die match in round five versus 
MIBR, who were fresh off the biggest upset of the Austin Major so far where they knocked out 
Team Falcons.
In Stage 3, FaZe stumbled in their opening match versus Aurora before roaring back with three straight victories over MOUZ, Legacy, and the MongolZ to qualify for the Playoffs. You can expect the Moody Center to get loud in support for FaZe, not just for s1mple's return to the Major Playoff stage, but also for the last remaining North American player in the tournament in 
Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski.
Then there's defending Major champions Spirit, who cruised through Stage 3 without dropping a single map against paiN, LVG, and NAVI. While ZywOo and s1mple have been the talk of the town in the Austin Major, 
Danil “donk” Kryshkovets continues to make his case as the best rifler in the world by powering Spirit's defense of their Major title.
If Vitality are the tournament favourites while FaZe are the community darlings, then Spirit are that third title contender that will demand everyone's attention once the fighting kicks off in the Playoffs.
FURIA and NAVI return to Major Playoffs
While Vitality, FaZe, and Spirit have taken up most of the spotlight in Stage 3 at Austin, Brazilian squad FURIA quietly cruised through Stage 3 and qualified for the Playoffs as one of the top seeds. Not many expected FURIA to be in this position, as the team only added 
Danil “molodoy” Golubenko and 
Mareks “YEKINDAR” Galinskis in April.
But with molodoy taking over as AWPer, Brazilian CS legend 
Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo has fully transitioned into the rifling IGL role. The change has been working wonders so far, with molodoy performing like the rising star he is while FalleN is free to focus on calling the shots. With FURIA among the eight teams set to play in the Moody Center, this marks their first appearance in a Major Playoffs stage since the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Rio Major in 2022. This is also FalleN's first Major Playoffs since the IEM Katowice Major in 2019.
Meanwhile, the first-ever CS2 Major champions, NAVI, qualified for the Playoffs after a solid run through Stage 3. They defeated Nemiga and Inferno in the first two rounds before losing to Spirit in round three. NAVI then bounced back by sweeping G2 in round four to lock in their spot in the Moody Center.
This marks a timely resurgence for NAVI after the team had middling results all year long. After failing to make the Playoffs in the Shanghai Major last year, NAVI also made their return to a Major Playoff stage and now have the chance to secure their second CS2 Major championship in Austin.
MOUZ, MongolZ, and paiN overcome slow starts to round out Playoff-qualified teams
MOUZ, MongolZ, and paiN were the final three teams to secure spots in the Austin Major Playoffs, having to survive all five rounds of Stage 3 and a do-or-die elimination match in the final round.
As the second-ranked team in the world, MOUZ were pegged as one of the biggest challengers Vitality will face for the Austin Major title. But the Major has thus far proven too much for some of the other tournament favourites, with Falcons notably failing to make it out of Stage 2. MOUZ looked like they would suffer the same fate after they lost their first two matches of Stage 3 against VP and FaZe Clan.
MOUZ then bounced back once competition shifted to best-of-three series, first overcoming Liquid in round three despite a 45-frag life game from 
Roland “ultimate” Tomkowiak in the series decider at Inferno. MOUZ then defeated Aurora in three maps in round four to survive to the fifth and final round of Stage 3.
Legacy awaited MOUZ in round five, with the scrappy Brazilian squad on the verge of taking their incredible Cinderella run to the Playoffs after dominating the opening map of the series. However, MOUZ outlasted Legacy in the late rounds of games two and three, to secure the 2-1 reverse sweep and instead be the ones making it to Moody Center.
Up next were the MongolZ, who lost their opening match versus FURIA before scoring back-to-back wins over Liquid and LVG in rounds two and three. However, a loss to FaZe in round four put the MongolZ in a round five matchup versus G2.
MongolZ dominated the first map in Ancient, but a resilient G2 squad managed to force game two in Dust II into five overtime periods before ultimately bowing out after 53 rounds. 
Azbayar “Senzu” Munkhbold played the game of his life to secure a spot in the Playoffs for his team, recording a whopping 56 frags in Dust II.
Senzu notably broke a couple of records with that life game, breaking the record for single map kills in regulation in a Major with 36, before breaking the all-time single map kill record in a Major with his final 56 frag count after five overtime periods.
Finally, Brazilian squad paiN secured the last spot in the Playoffs after recovering from a 0-2 start in Stage 3. They lost their first two matches against Spirit and G2 before bouncing back with consecutive 2-1 victories over Nemiga and 3DMAX. Facing paiN in round five were VP, who started Stage 3 with a 2-0 record before falling apart in rounds three and four.
Both squads traded the first two maps, with paiN striking first in Mirage before VP bounced back in Inferno, to force the series to a decider at Dust II. PaiN utterly dominated the first half, 10-2, and were at series point at 12-5 five rounds into the second half. However, VP managed to rally and go on a six-round streak to threaten overtime. But despite VP's best efforts to complete the comeback, the Brazilian squad clutched round 24 to secure the final spot in the Austin Major Playoffs.
The BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 is the first CS2 Major Championship of the year. 32 of the best CS2 teams in the world 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.
