North America’s second Major is upon us! CS2’s top teams battle it out for guts, glory, and a share of $1,250,000. The first stage of BLAST Austin is set to begin June 3rd, and Refrag has you covered with this hub of important match dates and teams and players to watch in CS2’s first major of 2025.

Important dates:

• June 3rd 2025 11:00 EST (15:00 UTC) – Start of Stage 1
  • Match to watch: Complexity vs. OG – Hometown heroes kick off the first day of matches.
    
• June 7th, 11:00 EST (15:00 UTC) – Start of Stage 2
  
• June 12th, 11:00 EST (15:00 UTC) – Start of Stage 3 and Playoffs

CS2 Austin Major Players to watch:

CS2 Austin Major Stage 1:

Player:	Team	HLTV Rating (last 3 months)
SunPayus	HEROIC	1.12
nicx	Complexity	0.99
Ax1Le	BetBoom	1.04

You might expect SunPayus, fresh off news of his transfer to G2, to phone it in for HEROIC. He’ll have a new team come the end of this CS2 Major cycle, but Majors have a way of bringing the best out of dead teams. Count on HEROIC to do some damage in Austin.

CS2 Austin Major Stage 2:

Player	Team	HLTV Rating (last 3 months)
NiKo	Falcons	1.12
s1mple	FaZe	1.11
YEKINDAR	Furia	1.05

While his return to competitive play has been anything but, s1mple is undoubtedly a big game player. When the lights are brightest, he’s been able to do incredible things. Keep your eye on the Ukrainian when matches go live for Stage 2 of the Austin Major.

CS2 Austin Major Stage 3

Player	Team	HLTV Rating (last 3 months)
ZywOo	Team Vitality	1.37
donk	Team Spirit	1.46
XANTARES	Aurora	1.14

ZywOo is inevitable, and Vitality are on a rampage. In recent years, favorites don’t typically make it deep in Majors, but Team Vitality have cemented themselves as one of, if not, the greatest team of all time. The competition has never been more fierce in Counter-Strike, but I still expect ZywOo to put up an MVP performance in what could very well be his second Major win.

BLAST Austin CS2 Major FAQ:

Where is the BLAST CS2 Major in 2025? – The BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 will be held in Austin, Texas, USA. The playoff stage is set to take place at the Moody Center, located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin.

What is the prize pool for CS2 Major Tournaments? – The tournament features a total prize pool of $1,250,000 USD. The distribution includes:

• 1st Place: $500,000
• 2nd Place: $170,000
• 3rd-4th Place: $80,000 each
• 5th-8th Place: $45,000 each
• 9th-16th Place: $20,000 each

How many CS2 majors per year? – Typically there are 2 CS2 majors per calendar year.

How do CS2 Majors work? – For the BLAST.tv Austin Major, there are 3 stages. The opening stage, Stage 1, is a 16 team swiss-style tournament, where teams with 3 wins proceed to the next stage, and teams with 3 losses are eliminated. The second stage, Stage 2, works the same way. Stage 3 begins with Swiss matches to decide the final 8 teams, which will play in bracket play to decide the winner. In all Swiss stages, elimination games are best of 3, while all other matches are best of 1.

Has NiKo win a major? – As of now, NiKo (Nikola Kovač) has not won a CS Major. He came close in the ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018, and in where his team reached the finals but did not secure the championship.