Falcons defeated all of the other top five teams at IEM Cologne to win NiKo’s first Major title, turning around their story from chokers to the most clutch in matter of months.
Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen was on track to miss the IEM Cologne Major after a disastrous run with FaZe. Two months later, he won the Major alongside Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovac, who kicked karrigan in 2018. Today, NiKo had his best performance in a Major final, the highest-rated player (1.43).
Singlehandedly, karrigan has turned Falcons’ fortunes around, beating NAVI, Vitality, Spirit and FURIA consecutively, with the final series being the easiest.
Falcons’ stars shut down FURIA on Mirage
At the start of this series, Ilya ‘m0NESY’ Osipov was indomitable. FURIA’s attack was completely flat against the Russian AWPer, who got 14 kills in the first half, winning it 8-4 right away.
FURIA tried to save their map pick, getting a force buy win thanks to youngster Danil ‘molodoy’ Golubenko. However, Falcons replied right back, with m0NESY and Maksim ‘kyousuke’ Lukin finding four kills with deagles to destroy FURIA in round 15.
From there, FURIA had little to no chance, and Falcons won 13-8 going into their map pick.
m0NESY played in MVP form on Anubis
m0NESY’s Anubis was worthy of an MVP, having a +13% round swing in his crowning achievement this Major.
The first half was close, as Mareks ‘YEKINDAR’ Galinskis was a brutal opener for FURIA in cave. He was outplaying kyousuke, allowing FURIA to get into the game.
Despite Falcons’ strong start, FURIA won the half 7-5. Their lead wouldn’t last though, as Falcons won another pistol round, a massive crutch for them this tournament.
FURIA was fighting back in the second half, knowing it was a must-win having lost the first map. In round 15, they almost stole a round at the last minute catching Falcons unaware.
However, the m0NESY show started. He won a 1vs2 clutch in the very next round, to rescue Falcons’ economy. Then, kyousuke started firing, getting a double entry in round 19.
FURIA was once again left speechless, as Falcons cruised to a 13-8 win.
NiKo redeems himself on Inferno
Eight years ago, NiKo was one of the reasons why FaZe couldn’t win a Major, dropping off massively in a Major final where they should have cruised to victory. On Inferno today, he was impeccable.
Round 9 was the ultimate round of redemption for NiKo, in a half that Falcons was winning but could have gotten away. He clutched a 2vs3, by finding the bomb carrier, and taking every duel perfectly, down to the 1vs1 against Kaike ‘KSCERATO’ Cerato.
In 2018, NiKo also had a round where he found the bomb carrier on Inferno, saving FaZe. This time, that round served to give Falcons, and his sidekick m0NESY, their first Major title.
Both NiKo and kyousuke were finding entries everywhere. YEKINDAR was having a nightmare, and molodoy’s 20+ kills were insufficient. In round 20, NiKo found a double opener to get to match point.
Once a curse, getting to match point was the blessing for Falcons. They wasted no time, closing out immediately with an A-split that destroyed FURIA. NiKo lifted his first Major title alongside karrigan.
Player of the match: kyousuke
Though NiKo deserves to be celebrated for his finals performance, the reality is that Falcons’ MVP for this series and the playoffs in general is Maksim ‘kyousuke’ Lukin. His boost in the playoffs cannot be understated, playing a donk-esque role getting all the necessary entries for Falcons to win.
It is reminiscent of NiKo’s performance at PGL Major Stockholm, who put the team on his back. This time, kyousuke had m0NESY to close out, and NiKo and Rene ‘TeSeS’ Madsen to support.
The mini-donk, kyousuke, had the most kills in the series (55), with the most openings (12) and the most multi-kills (16). He also won one of Falcons’ five 1vsX clutches this series.
