See M80 and NRG's opening match ups in the StarLadder Budapest Major

Yesterday StarLadder released the opening matchups for Stage One of the StarLadder Budapest Major, which will see 16 teams compete for eight spots in Stage Two. This stage features two NA hopefuls in the form of M80 and NRG, with the squads representing 2/3 squads North America sent to the second Major of the year. As such, all eyes will be on this stage of the Major as NA looks to muster a better performance compared to their dismal showing at the BLAST.tv Austin Major this summer.

M80's Major journey will start with them taking on Ukrainian squad B8. The two teams have never faced off and are similarly ranked, so hopefully M80 will be able to get the best of them in their opening Bo1 despite the team posting a strong performance in PGL Masters Bucharest 2025 last month.

Next up, NRG will be playing NIP for the third time this year. Last time they faced off was on home soil at Fragadelphia Fragville, with NRG taking a 3-1 win in the grand finals. It's worth noting, however, that NIP used Owen "smooya" Butterfield as a stand-in for Artem "r1nkle" Moroz due to visa issues.

It's also worth noting that Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken and FaZe will kick off their Major run against Lynn Vision in Stage One. After a dismal showing at IEM Chengdu, FaZe will be looking for an easy win against the Chinese squad who were upset darlings at the BLAST.tv Austin Major.

The full list of opening match ups for Stage One of the StarLadder Budapest Major consists of:

The StarLadder Budapest Major will kick off on November 24th.