Vitality defeat NAVI to earn playoffs at StarLadder Budapest Major 2025

Vitality took down NAVI in a closely fought match at the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025. The two teams battled it out across Inferno and Train. NAVI’s star sniper w0nderful looked to be in form, but they fell short at the final hurdle on both maps. NAVI now head into the final day of Stage 3 with just one more shot at earning their playoffs berth.

Team Rosters – Vitality vs NAVI

Map Veto

With over a dozen matches played between these two teams, both coaches are intimately familiar with each other’s preferences. NAVI stuck to their veto of Overpass taking one of the strengths of Vitality off the board, and Vitality responded with their usual Ancient veto. That set up an exciting match with two tactical maps on the docket, but an exciting Dust 2 closer.

1. Vitality removed Ancient
2. NAVI removed Overpass
3. Vitality picked Inferno
4. NAVI picked Train
5. NAVI removed Nuke
6. Vitality removed Mirage
7. Dust2 was left over

Match Recap – Vitality vs NAVI – StarLadder Budapest Major 2025

Inferno – w0nderful’s clutches can’t hold off Vitality’s firepower – 13-11

Three full sets of utility showed exactly how Aleksib planned to anchor NAVI’s CT side. They held Vitality out of B early, but apEX’s squad rerouted to A and bulldozed through b1t and w0nderful to take the pistol. A later smoke walk into B turned disastrous, as Aleksib’s five-seven cut them down perfectly. Vitality then doubled down on A, finding back-to-back success to finally shatter NAVI’s economy.

All bets were placed on round six — w0nderful brought out the AWP, Blad3 called a timeout, yet A’s defense still crumbled as b1t couldn’t land his usual headshots. Makazze’s clutch attempts were NAVI’s only lifeline until he finally converted a 1v2 for their second round. Aleksib later shifted toward A, shoring up the site and helping secure another. With an AK now in b1t’s hands, NAVI’s defense finally woke up, ending the half 5-7.

NAVI opened their T side strong, iM’s USP-S sealing the pistol and nearly giving them the 8-7 lead — until ZywOo pulled off a miraculous five-seven round to deny it. Vitality seemed poised to run away with the map, but w0nderful struck back with two massive rounds. In round 19, flameZ bagged three on B, only for iM and w0nderful to steal it back and level the score. Another monstrous quad-kill from w0nderful flipped momentum again, but Vitality’s scrappy buy of shotguns, pistols, and an AWP ultimately stole the map in unlikely fashion.

Train – NAVI battle close, but ropz clutches the win for Vitality – 13-11

A single bullet was all NAVI could land in Train’s pistol round, and the first gun round slipped away as ZywOo struck with perfect timing on a deadly flank. NAVI finally found life on a pistol A hit, where b1t nearly clutched a 1v1 against ZywOo but fell just short.

w0nderful answered the call with a sniper clutch on B to put NAVI on the board. His heroics fired up the team, sparking five straight T rounds and a booming economy. It took a monstrous AWP round from ZywOo to halt the streak at six, but NAVI seemed firmly in control with a confident close to the half.

Vitality repeated their pistol-round success after the side switch, yet NAVI’s deagles remained a menace. ropz steadied the ship for Vitality, though iM’s well-placed HE denied a bomb plant and forced XTQZZZ to pause and calm his troops. NAVI rallied to 9-9, but flameZ’s smooth B entry and b1t’s missed spray saw Vitality reclaim the lead and reach double digits.

Even as NAVI fought back with saved rifles, disaster struck when ZywOo slipped unseen into A main while ropz landed a signature wallbang onto w0nderful. b1t tried to turn the tide with a three-kill sequence, but mezii sealed the round and earned Vitality match point.

With odds stacked against them, NAVI forced two more rounds to the board, setting up a chance at overtime—only for Vitality’s tec9s to topple them in regulation, ending the map with a flourish.

While Vitality head to the MVM dome for their fifth consecutive major playoffs, NAVI instead will fight for survival tomorrow in the 2-2 games. Can w0nderful be the hero once more?