Vitality Overcome Spirit to Secure Second Consecutive Major Final Appearance

Vitality Overcome Spirit to Secure Second Consecutive Major Final Appearance

Vitality have reached the grand final of the StarLadder Budapest Major, defeating Spirit 2–0 in the semi-finals and booking their place in a second consecutive Major final. The series saw Vitality recover from a deep deficit on Mirage before asserting control on Dust2 to close out the match.

The opening map, Mirage, was Vitality’s pick, but the early momentum firmly belonged to Spirit. Playing on the CT side, Spirit built a strong lead and repeatedly disrupted Vitality’s executes, moving ahead 12–6 and putting themselves in a commanding position to take the map. Despite the pressure, Vitality gradually clawed their way back, stabilising their economy and forcing overtime.

Mirage ultimately went to double overtime, where Vitality managed to edge past Spirit 19–17. The comeback proved to be a decisive turning point in the series, with Vitality capitalising on key late-round situations to deny Spirit the map despite their early dominance.

After losing Mirage in such fashion, Spirit were unable to fully reset heading into Dust2, their own map choice. Vitality took control from the outset, establishing a lead in the first half and maintaining consistent pressure throughout the map. While Spirit remained competitive, they were unable to find a sustained run of rounds, and Vitality closed Dust2 13–8 to secure the series without the need for a third map.

The victory keeps Vitality on course to defend their Major title and places them in position to achieve back-to-back Major championships, a feat last accomplished by Astralis during their era of dominance. It also continues Vitality’s strong recent results against Spirit on the biggest stage.

For Spirit, the defeat marks a bitter end to their Budapest Major run. Their inability to convert a significant lead on Mirage proved costly, and the momentum swing ultimately favoured Vitality for the remainder of the series.

Vitality will now face FaZe Clan in the grand final, setting up a best-of-five Major final. FaZe reached the final earlier in the day after overcoming NAVI, meaning the Budapest Major will conclude with a clash between two teams that have consistently performed at the highest level throughout the tournament.