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We turn our attention to the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025, a key offline CS2 tournament of the season with a $1,250,000 prize pool. The event moves into Stage 2, where the level of play tightens and every result shapes the road to the playoffs. The MTK Sportpark continues to host the group stage, while the top teams will later head to the MVM Dome.
Day 1 of Stage 2 opens with a BO1 between Astralis and Ninjas in Pyjamas. It’s not an elimination game, but BO1s at this level rarely forgive slow starts or hesitation. Astralis will look to impose their disciplined, structured style from the first round, while NiP hope to lean on pace and timing to create early advantages. With only one map to settle it, any mistake can flip the balance, making this a practical test of who adapts faster under Stage 2 pressure.
How The Bookies View It: Astralis Favoured
Bookmakers give a slight edge to Astralis in this BO1 matchup, offering odds of 1.75 on the Danish lineup. NiP, meanwhile, enter the server as the underdog with a coefficient of 2.05. The gap isn’t huge, but it reflects current form and overall stability: Astralis have been showing more structured play and fewer unforced mistakes, which tends to matter a lot in single-map scenarios. BO1 formats are naturally volatile, so NiP still have a realistic chance to swing the match their way, but on paper, Astralis look like the more reliable pick heading into this opening Stage 2 clash.
Astralis form. What result can be expected from Astralis
We continue our CS2 tips with analyzing Astralis form. CS fans surely know this team, as they have achieved many victories at the highest level. As usual, we start our form analysis with the 2023 season. The team began it quite successfully, taking 4-6th place at BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2023 and immediately following it up with a victory at the Tier-B tournament CCT Season 1 North Europe Series #3.
Astralis continued the season by playing in qualifiers and A-tier events, and things seemed to be going well. They successfully qualified for the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 and won the CCT Season 1 South Europe Series #4, but then the team slightly lost form. The best achievement of the 2024 season for Astralis was 3-4th place at Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2023.
- Astralis 2025 roster: dev1ce, Staehr, jabbi, HooXi, Magisk.
The 2024 season began for Astralis with a showmatch and qualifiers. Then there were two attempts to get to the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, but both were unsuccessful: TOP-11 at European RMR B and TOP-6 at European RMR Decider put an end to Astralis' participation in the home Major.
In the first match of IEM China 2024, Astralis played against steel helmet, as Monte could not make it to China. And if Monte had played there, the score would hardly have been as lopsided as 13-2 in Astralis’ favor. However, judging by the match against FaZe, where Astralis were a cut above and beat the world’s top team 2-0, perhaps Astralis were really fired up for IEM China 2024. In the playoffs of the tournament, Astralis met FaZe Clan again, but this time were the weaker team and lost 1-2, exiting the tournament.
Astralis took part in ESL Pro League Season 19, where they reached the top 4 but lost to Vitality in the match for a grand final spot. The team later achieved similar results at the CCT Season 1 Global Finals and YaLLa Compass 2024.
At BLAST Premier: Spring Finals 2024, Astralis played in Group A, where they finished in third place. They advanced to the playoffs but lost to VP and exited the tournament at the TOP-6 stage. After that, Astralis played at IEM Cologne 2024, where they placed 12th.
In the long season of ESL Pro League Season 20, they lost to Fnatic (1-2), then to CoL (0-2). They ended ESL Pro League Season 20 just as badly as they started — with another loss to CoL and elimination at the TOP-28 stage.
Next, Astralis competed at BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2024, where they placed TOP-8, and at Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024, where they ended their run in the TOP-12. As you can see, their attempts were unsuccessful.
The team returned to good form at the BLAST Premier: World Final 2024, leaving behind MOUZ, FaZe, and NaVi. After winning Group A, Astralis advanced directly to the semifinals. However, their journey at BLAST Premier: World Final 2024 ended there, as Spirit advanced to the grand final instead.
At PW Shanghai Major 2024: European RMR B, Astralis Long Sogpeg started with a loss to 9 Pandas, then lost to Sashi Esports. Only in the third match against B8 did the team manage to regroup. However, this "music" quickly ended, and Astralis failed to qualify for Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024.
The 2025 season began with Astralis hoping to return to the top of professional CS2. So far, their best results are 3rd place at PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 and 2nd place at PGL Astana 2025 and FISSURE Playground #1.
Astralis started IEM Cologne 2025 with a 2-0 win over B8, then lost 0-2 to FURIA and beat paiN Gaming 2-1, which allowed them to advance to the Group Stage of the tournament.
In the Group Stage, Astralis suffered two defeats and were eliminated from the tournament, finishing 13-16th.
Astralis performed successfully at BLAST Bounty Fall 2025: Closed Qualifier — the team secured victories over Rare Atom and Natus Vincere, earning a slot in the main event.
At BLAST Bounty Fall 2025, Astralis lost to MOUZ and were eliminated from the tournament in the TOP-8.
The next tournament for Astralis was Esports World Cup 2025, where they lost their first match to Tyloo and finished TOP-16.
At ESL Pro League Season 22, Astralis passed Stage 1 with a score of 3-2, but in Stage 2 they played 0-3 and were eliminated from the tournament, finishing in 15th-16th place.
Astralis Map Pool
Over the past three months, Astralis has shown clear preferences and weaknesses across the map pool. Ancient has been their strongest map, with a solid 66.7% win rate, while Nuke also proved reliable at 63.6%, often being chosen as their first pick. Mirage and Overpass have been more inconsistent, with win rates of 42.9% and 37.5%, showing that the team still struggles to maintain dominance on these maps. Inferno and Train have been challenging, each with only 25% victories, and Dust2 has been the toughest map, where Astralis has yet to secure a win in recent matches. Overall, the stats highlight both the maps where Astralis can confidently compete and the ones that still require improvement.
NiP form. What result can be expected from NiP
In the first half of the 2023 season, NiP were remembered only for qualifying for the Paris Major 2023 after finishing 7th at European RMR B, as well as finishing in the top 8–11 at the Major itself. The team’s form slightly improved over the course of the season.
Although NiP lost in the Last Chance Qualifiers at Gamers8, they later performed well at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2023. They confidently advanced to the Fall Final, defeating such giants as Vitality.
NiP approached IEM Cologne 2023 in full combat readiness. There were no roster changes before the tournament, which clearly played in favor of the Swedish club.
In the first round of the Play-In at IEM Cologne 2023, Ninjas in Pyjamas faced Into The Breach. The match ended in an easy NiP win on Ancient with a score of 16-5.
In the match for a spot in the group stage of IEM Cologne 2023, NiP played against MOUZ. The "mice" outplayed the Swedes in class, allowing them to take only 19 rounds in two maps. The tournament ended for NiP in the top 16.
In the 2024 season, NiP drastically changed their roster, essentially carrying out a full rebuild of the team.
- NiP roster: r1nkle, ewjerkz, sjuush, xKacpersky, Snappi.
At PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European RMR A, NiP performed poorly — top 16. Things slightly improved in the second half of the year: top 2 at YaLLa Compass 2024, top 4 at FiReLEAGUE Global Final 2023. Among TIR-S tournaments, the best performance was at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups, where NiP managed to beat C9 and FaZe, but stopped at the top 8 after losing to Astralis.
Later, NiP played at BLAST Premier: Fall Showdown 2024 but failed to repeat the success of the previous BLAST tournament, finishing only top 16. They later placed top 28 at ESL Pro League Season 20 and top 16 at CCT Season 2 European Series #13. They also participated in the Thunderpick World Championship 2024, where they finished top 12 — a result that can hardly be called successful.
In the 2025 season, NiP participated in a large number of various qualifying tournaments. Only one of them ended in victory — PGL Astana 2025: European Qualifiers. However, at PGL Astana 2025 itself, NiP managed to reach the playoffs by winning their group with a 3-2 score — this was the Swedish club’s best result in the past 5 months of the 2025 season.
Ninjas in Pyjamas performed quite well at C and B-tier tournaments. The team won Fragadelphia x LVL UP EXPO 2025, placed 3rd–4th at The Proving Grounds Season 1, and finished 2nd at CCT Season 3 European Series #3.
The team also performed successfully at StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2025. In the upper bracket, NiP claimed victories over OG and parivision but were defeated by NAVI in the Upper Bracket Final. In the Lower Bracket Final, the team beat B8 and advanced to the Grand Final, where they lost to NAVI and finished 2nd in the tournament, earning $130,000.
Later in the year, NiP participated in PGL Masters Bucharest 2025, an A-Tier offline Counter-Strike 2 event. The team fought hard but fell 1:2 in the playoffs, finishing 15th–16th and earning $6,250.
NiP Map Pool
Over the past three months, NiP has shown a varied performance across different CS2 maps. Their strongest map is Train, with a 71.4% win rate, followed by Nuke at 61.5% when picked first and Ancient at 57.1%, highlighting their strength on maps that favor structured strategies and coordinated team play. Overpass and Dust2 have been more challenging, with win rates of 33.3% and 28.6% respectively, while Mirage, often banned first, has brought only 25% success. Inferno has been their weakest map recently, with 0% wins, indicating clear vulnerabilities on this popular competitive map. This map pool suggests that while NiP can dominate on strategic maps like Train and Nuke, they may face difficulties on more dynamic or commonly contested maps.
Astralis vs NiP — Head-to-Head
According to recent summary statistics, Astralis and Ninjas in Pyjamas have faced each other in official matches roughly 58 times. Astralis hold the edge in the overall record with around 34 victories, while NiP have secured about 24 wins. In their most recent five encounters, Astralis came out on top three times, with NiP winning twice.
The latest meeting between the teams took place on August 4, 2024, where Astralis claimed a confident 2:0 victory, taking Mirage 13–6 and Inferno 13–5. Before that, on June 6, 2024, NiP managed to upset Astralis in a BO1, narrowly edging out a 13–11 win on Ancient.
Overall, Astralis maintain a statistical advantage in this rivalry, but recent results show that NiP can still challenge them — especially in single-map formats — keeping this head-to-head dynamic and competitive.
Predicted result of the match Astralis – NiP at StarLadder Budapest Major 2025
Looking at both the broader context and the current state of the teams, Astralis appear to enter this BO1 with a more reliable foundation. Their overall structure, experience, and discipline give them an advantage in matches where early mistakes are costly and adaptation must happen fast. BO1 formats often come down to mid-round decision-making and composure under pressure — areas where Astralis traditionally perform better and where NiP still show inconsistency despite recent improvements. NiP’s map pool has strong points, but their volatility across several common picks creates additional risks in a one-map scenario. Astralis, meanwhile, have shown greater stability on maps likely to make it through the veto. Considering their deeper tactical play, stronger fundamentals, and the head-to-head history that leans in their favor, Astralis look like the more dependable pick to take this opening Stage 2 matchup.
Prediction: Astralis win.
