The BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 was the first Major with 32 teams and the first without RMR qualifiers. Team Vitality beat The MongolZ 2-1 in the grand final at the Moody Center on June 22, 2025, completing a run of seven straight tournament wins. On the item side, foil replaced glitter on the stickers and playoff matches got the first Souvenir Highlight Packages.
A new format and a new route in
BLAST organised the event from June 3 to 22, 2025. BLAST called it North America's first CS2 Major and the region's first Major since ELEAGUE Boston 2018. HLTV reported that the three Swiss stages were played behind closed doors before the move to the Moody Center for the playoffs.
The format grew from two Swiss stages to three:
- Stage 1 (June 3–6): 16 teams, Swiss system, best-of-three for advancement or elimination and best-of-one otherwise.
- Stage 2 (June 7–10): the top eight from Stage 1 plus eight invited teams.
- Stage 3 (June 12–15): the top eight from Stage 2 plus eight more invited teams.
- Playoffs (June 19–22): eight teams, single elimination, all best-of-three.
Qualification changed too. Valve replaced the RMR events with Major Regional Qualifiers (MRQs) and gave 16 direct invites based on its Valve Regional Standings (VRS) from April 7, 2025. Vitality, MOUZ, Team Spirit, G2 Esports, The MongolZ, Aurora, Natus Vincere and Team Liquid went straight to Stage 3; Falcons, FaZe Clan, 3DMAX, Virtus.pro, paiN Gaming, FURIA, MIBR and M80 started in Stage 2. HLTV reported that the other 16 places came from online MRQs.
One of those places changed hands. BESTIA qualified through the South American MRQ but did not have US visas for two players by BLAST's May 21 deadline, and BLAST replaced them with Legacy, the team BESTIA had beaten in the qualifier's deciding match.
The prize pool was $1,250,000, with $500,000 for Vitality and $170,000 for The MongolZ.
Vitality's run
Vitality's lineup was Dan "apEX" Madesclaire as in-game leader, Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut, Shahar "flameZ" Shushan, William "mezii" Merriman and Robin "ropz" Kool, coached by Rémy "XTQZZZ" Quoniam.
Their Major started badly. HLTV reported that a 3-13 loss to Legacy in the first round of Stage 3 ended a 30-series winning streak. They then beat Nemiga, 3DMAX and Virtus.pro to qualify, and beat Natus Vincere 2-0 and MOUZ 2-1 in the playoffs. The MongolZ reached the final by beating FaZe and paiN 2-0, and HLTV noted they were the first Asian team to make a Major final.
The grand final
| Map | Picked by | Vitality | The MongolZ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mirage | The MongolZ | 5 | 13 |
| Dust II | Vitality | 13 | 4 |
| Inferno | Decider | 13 | 6 |
Vitality went 3-0 up on Mirage before The MongolZ won 13 of the next 15 rounds. The answer came on Dust II, where Vitality led 9-3 at half, and Inferno followed the same pattern, with another 9-3 first half for Vitality before a 13-6 finish.
It was Vitality's second Major, after Paris 2023. HLTV noted that apEX joined the small group of players with three Major titles, and that mezii became the first player from the United Kingdom to win a Major. HLTV also named ZywOo MVP, his second Major MVP after Paris, which put him alongside Marcelo "coldzera" David and Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz as the only players with two.
Stickers: foil instead of glitter
Valve released the Austin stickers with the Viewer Pass on May 22, 2025, shortly after Legacy replaced BESTIA, so Legacy's stickers went into the capsules. All 32 teams and their registered players got stickers in paper, foil, holo and gold, with foil taking the place of the glitter finish used at the 2024 Majors.
The capsules followed the starting stages:
| Capsule | Teams |
|---|---|
| Legends | The eight Stage 3 invites, Vitality and The MongolZ among them |
| Challengers | The eight Stage 2 invites |
| Contenders | All 16 Stage 1 teams |
Each team capsule also contained the BLAST.tv logo. HLTV noted two quirks. Players registered as substitutes got no stickers, so there are no Austin stickers of Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev, who stood in for FaZe, or of Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis at FURIA, while the players they replaced did get them. And some players, including Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken, said the design in the game differed from the one they had submitted.
On July 2 Valve released the Austin 2025 Champions Autograph Capsule with Vitality's autographs in paper, foil, holo and gold. Half of all proceeds went to players and organisations; our Major sticker capsules guide explains the split.
Souvenirs and the first highlight packages
Train had replaced Vertigo in the map pool, so the seven packages were Ancient, Anubis, Dust II, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke and Train. The Train package drew on the Train 2025 Collection, whose Covert skin is the AWP | LongDog; the other six used the same collections as the 2024 Majors. Viewer Pass holders could earn souvenir tokens through Pick'Em and could also buy them. A Souvenir carries gold stickers of the two teams, the BLAST.tv logo and the map.
Playoff matches were different. In late May Valve announced Souvenir Highlight Packages: a Souvenir weapon with a charm attached that plays a video clip from the chosen playoff map, viewable in the inventory, on Steam or while spectating. They needed time to produce and arrived with the Champions capsule on July 2, when Valve described Souvenir Charms as a first. Our charms guide and souvenir packages guide cover how the charms and odds work.
Collecting Austin items
- Highlight or standard. A highlight Souvenir comes from a playoff map and has a charm with its clip. Standard packages cover the Swiss stages.
- Same names, different events. Vitality's five players have champion autographs from both Austin and Budapest 2025. The event name and the finish (foil at Austin, embroidered at Budapest) tell them apart.
- Check the match. The gold team stickers on a Souvenir show which match it came from.
- Inspect the scrape. Our stickers guide explains how wear affects applied stickers.
- Search by sticker. The sticker filter on Buy finds guns carrying a specific Austin sticker.
The Major before Austin was Shanghai 2024; the next was the StarLadder Budapest Major in December 2025.
Sources
- BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 — Liquipedia
- Vitality best The MongolZ to win the Austin Major — HLTV.org
- ZywOo earns seventh-straight MVP at the Austin Major — HLTV.org
- Valve release Major-deciding ranking update — HLTV.org
- All BLAST.tv Austin Major team and player stickers — HLTV.org
- BESTIA to be replaced by Legacy at the Austin Major — BLAST.tv
- Capture the Moment — Counter-Strike 2 announcements (Valve)
- BLAST.tv Austin Major Champions — Counter-Strike 2 announcements (Valve)
