On December 10 at 23:26 the pairings for the second round of the group stage at DreamLeague Season 27 were confirmed.

Valve has tightened the rules for tournament organizers, explicitly banning advertising and sponsorship from gambling services tied to in-game cases and skin trading. The new requirements apply to both ranked and unranked championships: sites that allow users to open cases or buy and sell skins can no longer be promoted at Valve-sanctioned events, and their logos are forbidden on team jerseys or any broadcast-visible material.

Danil "donk" Kryshkovets, the 18‑year‑old rifler for Team Spirit, finished first in the list of players with the highest average rating during the third group stage of the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025, posting an impressive 1.73 rating, according to HLTV.org statistics.