daps Leads NRG on Mirage, fnatic Equalize on Inferno — Dust2 to Decide Stage 2 Spot

NRG’s coach-stand-in Damien “daps” Steele has made an eye-catching debut in the best-of-three stages of the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025, but fnatic have dragged the North Americans back to earth on Inferno to level their 2-1 Swiss match at 1-1. Everything will now be decided on the third map, Dust2, with a ticket to Stage 2 on the line. 

The series is part of Stage 1 Swiss round four, where both teams came in at 2-1: the winner moves on to Stage 2, the loser drops into a 2-2 decider.  NRG, already one of the stories of the event after their shock 2-0 start with a coach as fifth man, are now locked in a tense battle with a rebuilding European fnatic squad. 

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Veto leads to Mirage, Inferno, Dust2

The veto produced a fairly classic CS2 spread. fnatic removed Nuke and picked Mirage, while NRG took Inferno; Ancient and Overpass were banned out, leaving Dust2 as the decider. 

Lineups:

• NRG: daps, br0, Jeorge, Sonic, XotiC 

• fnatic: fEAR, jackasmo, jambo, blameF, KRIMZ

Given NRG’s surprise wins over Ninjas in Pyjamas and FaZe on day one, and fnatic’s own up-and-down form in Budapest, the matchup already carried a heavy narrative weight before the server even went live. 

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Mirage: daps stars as NRG crush fnatic

On Mirage, fnatic’s map pick backfired immediately. NRG dominated from the first gun round and ran away with a 13–3 victory, posting a 9–3 half before closing out cleanly on the defense. 

The standout story was daps himself. The 32-year-old coach, forced into a playing role because Nick “nitr0” Cannella stayed home for the birth of his child, turned in one of the best single-map performances of his Major run so far:

• 15–6 K-D, 86.8 ADR, 1.86 rating 3.0 on Mirage

He wasn’t alone. Alexander “br0” Bro and Aran “Sonic” Groesbeek both posted ratings above 1.60 on the opener as NRG’s aggressive mid control repeatedly blew open rounds and left fnatic scrambling. 

Fnatic never really got started. None of their players finished Mirage in the green; fEAR in particular struggled to impact the game as NRG snowballed the economy and tempo. 

The one-sided scoreline fit neatly into the wider tournament story around NRG. Coming into Budapest, daps had been frank about how little time he’d had to prepare mechanically once it became clear he’d have to play instead of coach:

“I started playing a lot more actively the last two weeks, just pugging, DMing and practicing my utility so I don't miss things.” 

He also admitted that best-of-threes would “show more cracks” in the team after they went 2-0 in opening best-of-ones, and that NRG arrived at the Major with “zero expectations,” just wanting good atmosphere and communication. 

So far on Mirage, at least, those cracks were nowhere to be seen.

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Inferno: fnatic punch back to tie the series

NRG’s pick of Inferno told a different story. The Europeans stabilized, and fnatic’s structure began to show through. After a more contested opening, fnatic managed to build an 8–4 lead at halftime and eventually closed the map 13–10 to level the series. 

This time, it was fnatic’s rifling trio of blameF, jackasmo, and jambo that dictated the pace:

• blameF ended Inferno with 19–17 K-D, 94.8 ADR, 1.30 rating

• KRIMZ contributed a solid 1.03 rating on the map

• jackasmo and jambo added consistent multi-kills in late-round situations

On the NRG side, the performance cooled off. Jeorge and XotiC still found impact — both finishing Inferno with strong ADR and ratings above 1.25 — but daps dropped to 7–12 with a sub-1.0 rating, a stark contrast to his Mirage heroics. 

That dip tracks with what NRG’s own staff and daps have been saying all week: this is a patch-work lineup relying heavily on team culture rather than raw firepower. An NRG analyst was even quoted before the event calling daps “the least painful replacement” for nitr0 because the usual in-game leader’s role could be redistributed more easily than a star rifler’s. 

Despite the loss, NRG showed resilience on the T side, clawing back rounds to keep the scoreline close. But fnatic’s mid-round calling tightened up, and their late-round composure proved enough to prevent a comeback and force the decider on Dust2. 

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daps’ storyline: from “0–3 pick’em” to live decider vs fnatic

Whatever happens on Dust2, this series is another chapter in one of Budapest’s most unexpected storylines.

NRG arrived at the Major as a low-seeded Americas team and then had nitr0 ruled out late due to family reasons, prompting their coach to step into the server.  The team didn’t even bootcamp for the event, and daps has been open about how modest his expectations were:

“I would also probably put NRG in 0-3 or 1-3 if I were in their position… We have zero expectations. We came here just to have a good environment and focus on ourselves.” 

Day one flipped that script when NRG upset Ninjas in Pyjamas and FaZe to start 2-0, prompting headlines about NA’s best ever start to a CS Major and turning the Canadian into a cult hero overnight. 

Analysts and community figures have since highlighted how unusual this situation is — a long-time in-game leader and now coach, suddenly playing a full Major against Tier-1 opposition and more than holding his own. HLTV’s own feature on NRG’s start described his numbers as “respectable” for someone who expected to be on the other side of the stage. 

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Dust2 decider: everything on the line

With the series tied 1–1 and Dust2 left as the decider, both teams now face a classic high-pressure scenario:

• Winner secures a 3–1 record in the Stage 1 Swiss and qualifies for Stage 2 of the Budapest Major.

• Loser drops to 2–2 and will have to survive one more elimination match to keep their Major run alive.

Historically, Dust2 has rewarded strong fundamentals and opening-duel consistency — two areas that have swung back and forth in this series. On Mirage, NRG’s individuals dominated early fights; on Inferno, fnatic’s structure and blameF’s consistency took over. 

Now, with the score locked and the pressure at its highest, the question is whether daps can summon one more big performance on the decider or whether fnatic’s European five will complete the comeback and book their spot in Stage 2.

What’s certain is that for a player who openly said he’d “prefer to be coaching” and considered himself past the playing phase of his career, finding himself in a live Dust2 decider at a CS2 Major is already a story in itself.