The most competitive stage? - Budapest Major stage two preview

Things are heating up, and some big teams are entering the competition.

Stage one was fun, but it was purely a warm-up for stage two. Which is kind of the warm-up for stage three. Which... never mind. Every game is precious.

There's a lot of similar levelled teams here, and the drama threatens to be off the charts here.

Let's start with what is likely to be the least dramatic bit.

Who's not going to make it?

There are more obvious contenders, but man, FaZe are hard to watch right now.

Their performance in the first stage was worrying - at least, for supporters of FaZe - and their form coming into the Major was patchy at best. karrigan isn't fragging at all, broky is in some of the worst form of his life and jcobbb hasn't settled at all.

Actually, this sort of screams FaZe 3-0, doesn't it?

Imperial only won BO3s against NRG and Rare Atom, so our faith in them isn't too high. This is a big step up, and they're the lowest ranked team here for a reason. MIBR we have a little more faith in due to kl1m, but we're still not expecting loads. They could sneak through, but they seem very unlikely to.

The most competitive stage in the Major

Basically anyone else you can make a pretty good case for making it through. In fairness, you could make a case for the other teams too if you really wanted to, but we don't.

PARIVISION scraped through the previous stage 3-2, but they beat Legacy in a pretty marquee win. We don't know quite how good they are, but there is definitely a world where they grind out wins again. Never count out Jame. They're also much higher in the Valve rankings than a lot of these teams, surprisingly.

NIP were more convincing in the first stage (loss to NRG notwithstanding), but this is a step up and they are one of the lower rated teams. It's hard to count them out either, though, and Snappi has made a career out of winning games he's not favoured in. xKacpersky has been superb so far, and that is a big wincon for this team.

The other teams least likely to make it through are probably FlyQuest, TYLOO and M80. TYLOO are the longest shot, but in JamYoung they have a potentially top class rifler who has shown he can mix it with the best of them, and the pure mechanical skill of Mercury and Moseyuh is astounding.

M80 were really good in stage one, and it feels harsh to say they're not going to make it as they are fundamentally a very solid team, with an X factor entry fragger in Lake. He has been electric, and if he keeps it up, you never know; but slaxz- is one of the weaker AWPers in the stage, and that can be a problem.

FlyQuest we're higher on than usual because they actually won a Major BO3, which is new. Vexite has taken up the gap in fragging left with INS going to IGL, which was our main concern, and it's another team that jks has quietly improved. Quite literally quietly, if rumours are to be believed regarding his exit from G2.

The best of the rest

Aurora are the highest ranked team in the stage, which sounds like a really good thing for them, but that has traditionally been when they've struggled. They're coming off the back of some of their better results of the year, though, and XANTARES/Wicadia is an undeniable double pivot. They should get through - but should is a dangerous word.

NAVI are also in the uncomfortable position of having a target on their back, and their form has been more up-and-down than YEKINDAR on a sugar high. They have one of the best anchors in the world in b1t, and that's such a nice place to build from, but concerns over their firepower since jL's departure are not entirely unfounded. At this level, though, they should be okay.

Team Liquid we loathe to put in this category, but you look at the names on this team and it's hard to suggest they won't go through. Watching them play is a different story, though; they don't have the firepower concerns that NAVI have, but they also don't have the structural solidity of NAVI. We're concerned, but surely that rifle core is too much for stage two.

The unknowns

Are Astralis good? Absolutely no idea. Results seem to suggest they're okay, and HooXi has been a big help in finding a good base level, but do they have the explosive firepower needed to really go far? Do they need it? We have more questions than answers. They're technically the 3rd highest ranked team here, and that might be entirely fair, or it might be nonsense.

3DMAX used to be so reliably decent and would normally be a lock, but they've been getting picked apart more recently than usual. They're more than good enough to get through here without a hitch, but things rarely work out easily for the Frenchmen.

Passion UA barely play games at the moment, so it's hard to know where they fit in. We suspect they're not going through, but in truth we don't have enough data to be certain. We're therefore working on the Liquid logic of player quality, and theirs is just not at that level.

B8 are a team with a high ceiling but a low floor, and could beat anyone here on their day, but don't have the star power required to consistently do it. They could finish anywhere between 3-1 and 1-3 and we wouldn't be surprised.

We haven't seen enough of fnatic without CYPHER to be sure of how good they are, but in blameF they do at least have a definitive wincon. They're ranked just above M80, and we can't be sure that that isn't correct, but it feels harsh. Maybe Valve liked CYPHER, too.

Today's games

Astralis vs NIP in the dev1ce derby, and 3DMAX vs fnatic in the... afro derby (?) are the opening games today, and if you've only got one monitor go for the first game. There's a lot of tension between these two, what with Snappi always wanting to get one over his fellow Danes and the whole dev1ce situation, and both teams have something to prove.

Then there's Passion UA vs FaZe and PARIVISION vs TYLOO, which are both massive question marks. Do not ask us to predict these games. Please. We beg you. Watch either of these games and you're guaranteed something a bit different - which isn't a euphemism, they all just play a bit weirdly.

NAVI vs FlyQuest is a banger, and we'll be watching that over Aurora vs M80. Sorry. Vexite was the player of the stage in stage one, and now has to keep that going against one of the most well-organised teams in the world, while NAVI face a red-hot FlyQuest to kick it off. Could be spicy.

MIBR vs Imperial and Liquid vs B8 close out the first round, and... just watch the latter game. Brazilian derbies are crazy and you will learn nothing about either team (though if you like drama, it could be fun), whereas Liquid vs B8 should be a brawl. Liquid, you feel, need to start out hot, and this is a toughie.

Then there's another round of games, and a whole three more days. Don't you just love the Major?