The analyst called the coach’s 2023 move to Falcons one of the biggest coaching mistakes Counter-Strike has seen, in a podcast released on the day Falcons lost their Hong Kong semi-final.
Jacob “Pimp” Winneche said on the Last Free Nation podcast, in an episode released on Saturday 14 November, that Danny “zonic” Sørensen should have stayed with Team Vitality instead of joining Team Falcons in 2023. The same day, Falcons lost 2-0 to FURIA in the semi-finals of BLAST Rivals in Hong Kong, a day after Vitality went out in the quarter-finals.
Pimp, who played under zonic at Team Dignitas in 2015, used his turn in the show’s hot take segment for it.
I think one of the biggest mistakes that’s ever been made in history of Counter-Strike from a coaching perspective was from zonic to say yes to go to Falcons. I think he never, ever should have gone to Falcons. He never, ever should have left Vitality.
He stressed that it was no criticism of Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam, zonic’s successor at Vitality, whom he rates as a great coach. His point was that zonic would also have won plenty with that team. Pimp described the Dane as a methodical coach who builds a system in which every player has a job, and Falcons as a project built on buying stars. In his words, zonic has been “a mismatch for Falcons pretty much throughout the entirety of the time”. Pimp also said Vitality were talking to zonic about a new contract when he chose to leave.
Two trophies against 19
The record since the move supports the first half of the argument. zonic left Vitality on 11 October 2023, less than five months after winning the Paris Major with them, and joined Falcons on 1 November. XTQZZZ returned to Vitality two days after zonic’s exit.
| Since zonic’s move | Falcons | Vitality |
|---|---|---|
| Tournament wins | 2 | 19 |
| Major titles | 1 | 2 |
| ESL Grand Slams | None | 2 |
Falcons won nothing in 2024 and missed both Majors that year, going out at the European RMR each time. In 2025 they won PGL Bucharest and lost five other finals, three of them to Vitality: IEM Melbourne, BLAST Rivals Spring and ESL Pro League Season 22. Three more lost finals followed in 2026 before the one that counted most, the 3-0 over FURIA in the IEM Cologne Major final on 21 June. Falcons knocked Vitality out in the quarter-finals of that Major, and the title was zonic’s sixth as a coach, more than anyone else has.
Vitality’s 19 wins in the same period include the Austin and Budapest Majors in 2025 and seven trophies in 2026.
No final since Cologne
FURIA2-0
FalconsAncient 16-14, Dust2 13-5Hong Kong was the seventh event in a row in which Falcons failed to reach the final, a run m0NESY called “very frustrating” on BLAST’s broadcast two days before the semi-final. Vitality have had a rough month of their own. After winning StarLadder StarSeries Fall and ESL Pro League Season 24, they finished fourth at PGL Masters Bucharest and left Hong Kong with one series win and the first 13-0 defeat they have suffered in CS2.
Pimp’s co-hosts pulled in different directions. Mauisnake went further and placed zonic well behind XTQZZZ among the coaches of the CS2 era, while Thorin countered that for most fans the six Majors settle the question.
Both teams are invited straight to Stage 3 of the PGL Major Singapore, which runs from Wednesday 2 to Sunday 6 December. Falcons arrive as defending champions, Vitality as winners of the two Majors before that.
