Fnatic rallied for a 2-1 win over NRG on Wednesday to advance to Stage 2 of the StarLadder Budapest Major in Hungary.
Two other teams sealed advancement with victories in Stage 1 fourth-round high matches on Wednesday. Ninjas in Pyjamas swept Fluxo 2-0, and B8 trounced Legacy 2-0.
Three teams stayed alive by capturing Stage 1 fourth-round low matches. FaZe Clan overtook RED Canids 2-1, PARIVISION downed GamerLegion 2-0, and Imperial Esports eliminated The Huns Esports 2-0.
Thirty-two teams began play in the $1.25 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event, which features three consecutive Swiss System stages ahead of the playoffs. Sixteen teams compete in each stage. Eight invited teams will start in Stage 2, and eight more get a bye into Stage 3. The top eight teams in each stage move on.
In each Swiss System stage, elimination and advancement matches are best-of-three and all others are best-of-one.
The tournament concludes with a single-elimination playoff stage Dec. 11-14. All matches are best-of-three until the grand final, which is best-of-five. The winner will take home $500,000.
On Wednesday, NRG opened with a 13-3 win on Mirage before Fnatic captured Inferno 13-10 and Dust II 13-9. Ukraine’s Nikita “jackasmo” Skyba paced Fnatic with 52 kills, while Denmark’s Benjamin “blameF” Bremer produced a team-best plus-10 kill-death differential. Another Dane, Alexander “br0” Bro, led NRG with 54 kills and a plus-14 K-D differential.
Ninjas in Pyjamas thrashed Fluxo 13-5 on Nuke, 13-5 on Train. Poland’s Kacper “xKacpersky” Gabara propelled Ninjas in Pyjamas with 40 kills and a plus-23 K-D differential. Lucas “Lucaozy” Neves and Lucas “decenty” Bacelar each amassed 21 kills for all-Brazilian Fluxo.
B8 needed overtime to get past Legacy 16-12 on Dust II, then sealed the match with a 13-5 triumph on Mirage. Artem “kensizor” Kapran amassed 43 kills and a plus-12 K-D differential for all-Ukrainian B8. Eduardo “dumau” Wolkmer wound up with 35 kills and an even K-D differential for all-Brazilian Legacy.
Stage 1 concludes Thursday with three Round 5 matches. All of the winners will head to Stage 2 and the losers will go home.
–Fluxo vs. FaZe Clan
–NRG vs. Imperial Esports
–PARIVISION vs. Legacy
StarLadder Budapest Major prize pool
1. $500,000
2. $170,000
3-4. $80,000
5-8. $45,000
9-11. $20,000
12-14. $20,000
15-16. $20,000
17-19. $10,000
20-22. $10,000 — RED Canids, The Huns Esports, GamerLegion
23-24. $10,000 — Lynn Vision Gaming, Rare Atom
–Field Level Media
