The second day of the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 is over, and as the first game finished we got ourselves a third semifinalist – FaZe Clan – mowing down the fans’ and bookies’ favorite – MOUZ in 2 maps.

Map 1 – Nuke – FaZe’s Pick

FaZe Clan had a flying T side start on their map pick nuke, looking determined to prove everyone doubting them, and that their advancement to the playoffs was not just a lucky break. They went off in the first half, with everyone showing up for the team – even karrigan hitting AWP flicks – not giving MOUZ an opportunity to really settle into the environment. Jcobbb closed the half at 9-3 with a crazy 4k, opening A site like he owns it. MOUZ looked stunned, with only Brollan and the hometown favorite – torzsi looking somewhat alive.

The second half started, and FaZe suddenly looked like they on the verge of doing one of their signature chokes. 9-3 is a hard round diff to come back from, especially in Major playoffs, but MOUZ defied the odds and started looking like their usual selves. They got their picks, won most of the duels, and won every single 1v1 there was, never letting FaZe recalibrate, winning 8 rounds in a row and taking a 11-9 lead, and as the round wins stacked on, we all thought its over. But not FaZe. With their last chance of turnaround and in a deciding 21st round, broky showed up with 2 opening kills on the AWP, and an unlucky teamkill by torzsi, reseted FaZe’s economy and confidence. That round win resulted in a 4 round streak and a map for FaZe, proving their advancement to the playoffs is not by accident, and their “chokers” label is slowly but surely fading.

An amazing comeback from MOUZ, and even more amazing one from FaZe Clan.

Map 2 – Inferno – MOUZ’s Pick

FaZe kept the momentum going and started the game with a flawless pistol round, with some questionable chase tactics from MOUZ’s side. They quickly stacked wins and before you know it, it’s 10-2 in their favor. Everyone on MOUZ (except torzsi, again) was nowhere to be found, playing well below the expected level in a game of a Major quarterfinal, especially in a game where they were crowned as heavy favorites by many. Brollan got his first kill in the 11th round, xertioN’s 3 kills came in a single round, and Jimmy and Spinx were looking like they’re just happy being there.

Second half went on with the same energy out of FaZe Clan – winning three straight rounds to give MOUZ one of the most crushing defeats this year. FaZe just kept swinging until there was nothing else to swing at, closing the map with such authority that you only see from a team that’s fully locked in. MOUZ never had the chance to find a way to flip the script, and the scoreline reflects how suffocating this map was.

It’s a rough way to exit for MOUZ, but today FaZe earned every bit of that semifinal spot.