Main event for StarLadder Budapest Major 2025

Three stages, one winner

StarLadder Budapest Major is the second Major to utilize a revamped format first implemented by Valve for the BLAST.tv Austin Major, albeit with some slight tweaks.

The biggest change from the Austin Major is the loss of the "Major Regional Qualifiers," where teams would compete for the 16 spots up for grabs in Stage 1 of the Major. Now, those 16 teams will be directly invited via the Valve Regional Standings (VRS). Eight of those teams will qualify for Stage 2, where they will join eight teams who received direct invitations to that stage through the VRS, again utilizing the Swiss system, all fighting for eight places in Stage 3.

Last is Stage 3, which is split into two parts. First is another Swiss system, where the top eight teams from Stage 2 join the eight best teams in the world in the VRS to decide who will go to the playoffs. Then comes the finale, the playoffs themselves, where the final eight teams will contest a single-elimination bracket to determine the winner, who will etch themselves forever into CS history.