The Falcons in-game leader admits his individual form is a problem, but says he expected “a little bit more working space” four months after winning the Major.
karrigan has responded to the criticism of his form and the calls for Falcons to replace him, in an interview with Hotspawn ahead of the Thunderpick World Championship in Malta.
The 36-year-old Dane did not dispute the numbers. “I know everybody’s talking about my level. I know my level is not good enough,” he said. “I know my level is not that bad as it shows in the numbers, but it is how it is.”
The numbers behind the criticism
karrigan finished ESL Pro League Season 24 with a 0.69 rating and a 0.61 K/D over 12 maps. Only two of the 80 players at the event had a lower rating, and the gap to the rest of the Falcons lineup was wide.
| Player | Maps | K-D diff | Rating 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|
 m0NESY | 12 | +48 | 1.28 |
 NiKo | 12 | +20 | 1.21 |
 TeSeS | 12 | +15 | 1.12 |
| kyousuke | 12 | +8 | 1.04 |
| karrigan | 12 | -71 | 0.69 |
Falcons went out in the quarter-finals in Katowice after a 2-0 loss to Spirit. Since winning the Cologne Major in June, they have also finished 5th-8th at the Esports World Cup and 3rd-4th at BLAST Open Fall.
karrigan said he has been working hard and feels fine in practice, but called it “a mental thing right now”. “I felt good coming into the last tournament, and then I made it even worse than it was before,” he said, adding that he needs to “hold my own and do something on my bombsite as well, because otherwise it’s going to be tough for the team.”
“Eight years” of calls to retire
The Dane said the reaction to his form is familiar.
For my career, as soon as my team doesn’t perform or win trophies within a few events, they want me kicked, so I’m used to being in that position. I think for eight years I’ve been told to retire every time there’s a bad period. But every time I had a bad period, I found my way out of it and then won trophies.
He pointed to the Major title as a reason for some patience. karrigan joined Falcons from FaZe in the spring, and the team won the IEM Cologne Major in June, beating FURIA 3-0 in the final.
We just won the Major three, four months ago, so I expect maybe a little bit more working space with the lineup after winning the Major. But that doesn’t justify our performance not being good enough, so I understand the critics.
He also made clear that his position is not guaranteed. “Obviously, in five months again, if we’re not performing, I think I’ll probably not be here then. I think Falcons are always ready to make changes for the better, and if that’s what they think about next season, then that’s all right. But I know I must work on everything I can to make this project work.”
Teammates back their leader
m0NESY, who extended his contract with Falcons until 2030 on Monday, defended his captain in a separate Hotspawn interview. “I never feel that he has a difficult game. He’s always there. He’s always with us. He’s always communicating,” the AWPer said, adding that the team shares responsibility “if something sometimes doesn’t work”.
m0NESY also said he and karrigan “share the same image of the game” when it comes to structure, especially on the T side.
Favourites in Malta
Falcons open the Thunderpick World Championship against Ninjas in Pyjamas on Wednesday at 13:00 CEST and top Hotspawn’s pre-event power rankings. karrigan accepted the favourites tag, but said the focus is on enjoying the game again.
We have enough pressure on ourselves, enough pressure from the community. One thing we did well at Cologne was enjoying the game and having fun on the stage. We are favourites to win the tournament, but that doesn’t mean anything. Paper has always been paper.
The debate around karrigan is not new. In April, when Falcons signed him from FaZe, we asked whether he could recover from the biggest failure of his career. Two months later, he was a Major champion.
