Spoilers: No. Jokes aside, Team Falcons has accomplished a feat for the first time in over a year. They made Playoffs at a non-BetBoom Counter-Strike LAN. The last time we saw them in an arena in front of a crowd was IEM Katowice 2024. That was in January of last year. Now, they’re making their return to the stage at PGL Cluj-Napoca.
No Takeoff for Falcons
CS’s most expensive project had an incredibly disappointing 2024. Rumors of a potential super team in the off-season ended up falling short, as multiple contracts didn’t end up coming to fruition. What they got was a mix between a rising but inconsistent ENCE squad and a handful of the previously prime Astralis roster. What should have been a ramping team with a high ceiling ended up being anything but.
After their top four finish at Kato, Falcons eventually fell out of the HLTV Top 10 in April and didn’t sniff it again for the rest of the year. Their single playoff appearance besides Kato was at BetBoom Dacha 1 (an eight team event) where they got instantly bounced by Spirit while only winning 9 rounds in the series.
Hating on Falcons became so universal that you could see the “Energizing win for (any team playing against Falcons)” copypasta below every match thread they were a part of. Even bringing in Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev didn’t do much to help the situation. It was clear that this roster was done and that they’d try again for their super team next year.
Big Money Moves
Coming into 2025, Falcons finally landed their big fish. Nikola “NiKo” Kovac would be joining the Saudi org to try and lead them to the promised land. Only Emil “Magisk” Reif and coach Danny “zonic” Sorensen were left from the previous iteration, leaving Falcons to acquire the rising HEROIC core to fill out the squad.
We first saw this new look Falcons at BLAST Bounty Spring and IEM Katowice. In these two appearances, they had one match win against ENCE and losses to Eternal Fire (2x) and G2. It wasn’t a lot to go off of in terms of learning what to expect from them, but it wouldn’t be anything extraordinary.
Now, PGL Cluj-Napoca provided a unique opportunity. Four of the top five teams in the world would not be attending, leaving Falcons as one of the highest rated teams at the event. If they really wanted to be respected as a top 10 team and a big event playoff threat, they needed to do well here.
Falcons Spread Their Wings
Their opening match against FlyQuest was a gimme. After that, we saw Falcons lose a tight three-map affair to paiN Gaming. While this sounds like a blown opportunity, paiN is actually a rising squad, and potentially even the best Brazilian team at the moment. The tiebreaker map came down to round 24 and could have gone either way.
Up next was a match against Astralis. Despite a one-sided loss on map one, Falcons rallied back to easily put away the Danes in three. Now at two wins, Falcons had two chances to tap in the elusive S-Tier playoffs qualification. Their next test was one they weren’t favored to get the job done in.
Against the overall third seed MOUZ, Falcons again went down 0-1 after a slow start on their own Dust2 pick. Everyone expected MOUZ to close it out in two on Mirage. Instead, Falcons stunned the favorites with a well-executed offense to win 13-10. On the decider of Ancient, Falcons truly ran away with it, earning a 10 round T Side in the first half. Though MOUZ mounted some resistance in the second, a classic NiKo ace sent Falcons through to the big stage.
NIKO ENDS IT! ACE IN THE FINAL ROUND AND FALCONS VICTORY! pic.twitter.com/AM6jNWMblZ
— PGL (@pglesports) February 17, 2025
Back to the Big Stage
It’s clear that NiKo is bringing something to Falcons that they didn’t have all of last year: some genuine star power. Having a player who can will rounds into existence is a boon that every team desires. Even having that one player who can pop off hard will win Falcons some respect and results, just ask Team Spirit.
The difference is that Danil “donk” Kryskovets has a functioning team around him. This raises the team’s ceiling from just dangerous to trophy contenders. Does Falcons meet those same requirements?
As of now, they don’t seem like they’re there quite yet. While Magisk and Abdul “degster” Gasanov have their moments, they’re also prone to going missing for maps at a time. Damjan “kyxsan” Stoilkovski is still getting his bearings as the IGL of a team with such high expectations. And René “TeSeS” Madsen can get even closer to his previous peaks on HEROIC.
Still, things can change fast in Counter-Strike. If Falcons are able to make a deep run, perhaps even their first CS Grand Finals appearance ever here at PGL Cluj-Napoca, then the team may start to be touted as an explicitly superior product than their previous form. Just like last year however, I need to see it to believe it. That ceiling could end up being a desert mirage once more.
