How to get the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 diamond coin
To get started on your diamond Coin journey at the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025, jump into Counter-Strike 2 to purchase your Viewer Pass. Once you have activated the pass you can head to the Pick’Ems hub to make your Stage 1 picks.
Related—Starladder Budapest Major 2025: Stage 1 Preview
In the Pick’Em page, you can simply drag team logos into the 3-0, 0-3, and “to advance” slots, and hit the save button to lock in your selections before the countdown expires. Each stage with 5/10 correct picks will upgrade your coin from bronze all the way to diamond while also awarding Souvenir Tokens along the way.
And if you missed the deadline on Stage 1, you can still jump in during the tournament and complete the rest of the Pick’Em stages. While that won’t allow you to get the diamond coin, you can still earn coin upgrades depending on how many stages you are able to complete.
How to use Major simulators to predict matchups
Third-party sites often offer a matchup simulator letting you run through the full Swiss bracket and playoffs using the seeding data for the major. Both majors.im & HLTV.org have updated their simulators for the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025, allowing savvy Pick’Ems players to check the possible matchups before committing to their picks.
These simulators are especially useful for spotting landmines: strong teams that might face each other at the start, thus preventing a 3-0 for at least one of them, or a weaker squad that could find a lucky set of opponents to go through. By selecting the teams that you think will win in each match, you can quickly run through a multitude of simulations, and find a consistent pattern of teams to pick.
Our picks for the StarLadder Budapest Major Stage 1 Pick’Ems
Given the volatility of teams in Stage 1, very few choices seem like a lock to advance. With that in mind here are some of our picks in the StarLadder Budapest Major Stage 1 Pick’Ems.
3-0 Teams: For the undefeated teams, Legacy is the obvious favorite thanks to their strong form, and decent tactical base. And as much as FaZe have struggled recently, against this competition there really is no one better than Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken & David “frozen” Čerňanský.
0-3 Teams: Flipping to the other side of the leaderboard, it really is a battle between RED Canids and the Asian representatives. Lynn Vision, and FlyQuest stand just outside this range thanks to their firepower, so it’s The Huns, and Rare Atom that constitute this Sophie’s choice. After going through the simulator, and looking at possible match ups, we’ve ended up with Rare Atom and RED Canids as the bottom two.
