zonic reveals: The decision to change the roster was already made in the spring
Throughout 2024 the prestigious Falcons project struggled to get the right players aboard, leaving Danny "zonic" Sørensen with a team with no future and exhausted patience, the head coach explains in an interview with Pley.gg.
“Turbulent”
The answer comes quickly from Danny ”zonic” Sørensen when asked to describe his first year with Falcons in a single word.
In an in-depth interview, the Dane sat down with Pley.gg to discuss his initial 12 months as the head coach of Falcons, the recent roster changes and the disappointing performance on the server.
Furthermore, zonic also reveals that the Saudi team tried to change and upgrade the roster throughout the majority of the year.
Firepower issues and lacklustre results
Looking back, zonic does not shy away from acknowledging the underwhelming level of Counter-Strike the team has displayed.
- The performance this year hasn’t been acceptable at all, I think we all can agree on that. It just hasn’t been good enough, zonic says.
A constant topic throughout 2024 when analyzing the faults and shortcomings of Falcons has been their lack of firepower and star players. Something zonic also highlights:
- We tried everything with this roster. But again, I’ve said this many times; Magisk and I have been missing the firepower from Spinx and ZywOo. And I think for the ENCE guys they have missed a NertZ.
But it can't stand alone, according to the former Astralis and Vitality coach.
- I think it’s a valid excuse pointing towards the lack of firepower, but it’s also a bit too easy thinking of the level that we showed this year. It’s not right to blame it all on that, there were simply also just a style clash. I would say, me and Snappi had some difficulties finding each other in the beginning. Like, ‘Will we go with the ENCE way of playing or the Vitality way?
- But I would also say for Magisk and Snappi that this was not the team they expected. I think the same goes for Maden and SunPayus. We all kind of had this feeling, zonic says.
zonic's first Falcons lineup consisted of maden, SunPayus, Snappi, BOROS and Magisk (from left to right) - Photo credit: Stephanie Lindgren
"I did not handpick this lineup"
The Saudi organization ended up signing a lineup consisting of Snappi, Maden and SunPayus from ENCE mixed with Magisk and the youngster BOROS.
Despite an impressive showing at IEM Katowice at the start of the year, Falcons failed miserably to live up to the expectations of a team with multiple Major titles under its belt.
But why were there no signs of improvements during 2024?
The answer could very well be due to the simple fact that the roster was never regarded as a long-term solution, zonic reveals to Pley.gg.
- From day one of signing this team, we knew that this roster was only temporary. When I decided to replace dupreeh with flameZ right after we won the Major, the main reason was flameZ’s age. I mean he was ten years younger than dupreeh. And then eight months later I found myself in a team with an average age of around 29. So, if people think that I have handpicked this team, they are gladly mistaken.
- It was not the team that I initially set out when I left Vitality. Normally when you leave a team you want to get a better team or at least somewhat the same, unless you’re in a downward spiral in your career.
- 'This roster was more of a last-minute solution,' zonic admits during our talk with him as he also explains that it was difficult to attract the right players due to Falcons having no partner spots going into 2024.
The reasonings and thoughts behind the building of the now-disbanded lineup, zonic discussed with us in an interview last year. You can read it down below.
“No belief in the roster”
Especially the failed Major qualification for PGL Major Copenhagen took a big toll on the Falcons side, zonic remembers.
- Missing the Copenhagen Major hurt the team a lot and it dragged out the excitement of the team. And it was tough for me as a coach to maintain an optimism. Despite the roster we had and the concerns we had, I think a lot of why we didn’t perform was more mental because people inside the team didn't have any belief in this roster.
Tried to make changes throughout the year
During zonic’s reign in Falcons, the team only saw a couple of lineup changes despite continuous struggles on the server.
The first was in February when the Saudi organization announced the arrival of Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen as a replacement for Mohammad “BOROS” Malhas. Later on Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev took away the big green from Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia.
However, that wasn’t the only time Falcons attempted to tweak the squad, zonic reveals.
- I think throughout the entire year we have tried upgrading and changing the roster. That decision was already made in the spring. I’m not saying we were wasting time, but I’m not willing to meet in and not be satisfied with the roster that I have. For that regard, my patience has run out.
- I wish it would have happened earlier, but it was simply not possible to get the players that I wanted – for reasons I can’t go into detail with. A lot of things was happening behind the scenes, but with the Major in Copenhagen being so close to the following roster deadline, it was just too risky for people to jump on this train at that time.
The eventual and long-waited roster overhaul was announced last month, which saw dupreeh, Snappi, and maden get demoted, while it was informed s1mple won't continue either.
What should they have done?
It’s always easier to look at life in retrospect. And the same goes for a certain Danny “zonic” Sørensen when discussing his first period in Falcons.
- We should have done it in a different way looking back at. ‘Should I have gone with a younger and more talented team?’ For sure. I can see that in hindsight. That would have been a better risk to take. The better solution would have been to start out a bit slow, building the team with a mix of Magisk, Snappi and a couple of talents.
- But I want to say that all the players can still play tier-1 CS, it’s just this mix of this particular roster. The team showed 100% commitment throughout the season, the Falcons chief affirms.
“I have the ultimate responsibility”
As the head coach and mind behind the squad, zonic does not avert away from taking accountability for Falcons’ difficult 2024 season.
- I have a big responsibility for the results and how it went this year. We are all to blame for this, but ultimately, I stand with the final responsibility, and for that, I haven’t done a good enough job.
At the end of our talk with the five-time Major champion, we asked him what he sees as his biggest learning experience after 12 months as head coach of Falcons.
- My biggest learning is that I need to trust my gut feeling a lot more. I knew since day one that I had concerns regarding the lack of firepower, which I also informed Falcons. But I should have acted a lot faster. I should have looked more long-sighted and said: ‘Okay, right now we can't get these players, now I'm going to get these two talents instead’. Maybe I can use one of them in the new roster next year.’
- This was my first year as a coach where I didn’t win a trophy. For my proudness and all of this, it’s been tough. I’m not used to being down here. But I still have full trust in myself and my capabilities, zonic concludes.
Stay tuned for the second part of our interview with zonic, where he delves into his plans for 2025 and the creation of Falcons 2.0.
