We are less than one week away from the start of the last ever Major in CS:GO history. To ease the waiting time, we have created a countdown series, where we dive into the history of all 18 Majors. Today we have reached ESL One: Cologne 2016.

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 Cache, Cobblestone, Dust2, Mirage, Nuke, Overpass, Train.

ESL One: Cologne 2016 was the ninth CS:GO tournament in the history of the game and was held from July 5 – July 10, 2016 in the Lanxess-Arena in Cologne Germany. Like the previous Major, this one also featured 16 teams and a total prize pool of $1,000,000!

The previous two events in Cologne were all about the Swedish giants from fnatic and NiP. But by the time ESL One: Cologne 2016 came around, the Counter-Strike landscape had changed. The Ninjas had fallen off drastically, while fnatic were still among the world’s top four teams. The previous event marked the definite end of a dynasty. For the first time in CS:GO Major history, Ninjas in Pyjamas failed to get past the group stage and weren’t even able to qualify for the following two Majors.

New teams were on top, and none of them from Sweden.

2016 was the year of the Brazilian nation. While the team won their first Major as massive underdogs under the Luminosity banner, by the time of Cologne 2016 SK Gaming were undisputed best team in the world. The famous and proud Brazilian winners were FalleN, fer, coldzera, fnx, and TACO.

All the focus was on the Brazilians squad going into ESL One: Cologne 2016. The Brazilian godfather, Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo literally took his team from the depths of irrelevancy to Counter-Strike world champions within one year.

If a professional CS:GO player gets his own graffiti on a map, he’s clearly done something extraordinary. Only few players received this special honor by Valve and one of them is Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, who achieved immortality at ESL One: Cologne 2016.

Those were the words from the renowned caster, James Bardolph when he witnessed s1mple’s outrageous play in the semi-final of ESL One: Cologne, where Liquid took upon the Swedish side from fnatic. The Ukrainian beast outdid himself by presenting a completely ridiculous double no-scope on the B-site of Cache. The iconic play perfectly illustrated his inhuman skills and mechanical capabilities, and the sequence will forever be a part of Counter-Strike history.

Watch the iconic play from s1mple right here:

On their way to the Grand final, the Brazilians from SK Gaming had to overcome some of the biggest names at the time including FaZe Clan, G2, FlipSid3, and Virtus.pro, while Liquid took down teams such as Envy, MOUZ, NAVI, and fnatic to secure their spot in the final.

It is July 10, 2016, and the Lanxess Arena in Cologne Germany is filled to the brim. Nearly 14.000 spectators are ready to watch a nerve-racking Grand final at the tournament between SK Gaming and Team Liquid.

The action of the Grand final began on SK Gaming’s pick of Train, where the Brazilians started off things on the offensive side, storming to a 3-0 lead. It looked like the first gun round between the two teams would go SK’s way, but the Brazilians couldn’t hold down the site and Liquid grabbed their first round. However, the Brazilians would immediately hit back in the following round, resetting Liquid’s economy. SK Gaming were full of momentum, especially coldzera who went huge and delivered a clutch to give his team an even more substantial lead. Down 1-6, Liquid started to wake up and managed to climb back one the scoreboard, thanks to praiseworthy performances from Hiko and s1mple who helped their team add seven rounds to the scoreline, before the second half.

Liquid was on the verge of securing the second pistol round and turn the tide in their favor, but their hopes were crushed by fer, and instead, SK Gaming went on to win all the remaining rounds to draw the first blood to the series.

Map two was Cobblestone, on which both teams had incredible moments throughout the entire tournament. But the map was especially one of Liquid’s favorite picks and the North American squad with s1mple tried their best to live up to that billing as they got out to an early lead after securing the pistol round. coldzera and SK Gaming were able to steal away the third round against the odds, winning an eco and eventually running away with the lead. From there on, the Brazilians showed no signs of slowing down, with the scoreline blooming to a 10-5 advantage. In the second half, SK Gaming only allowed s1mple and company to grab one single round before locking down Cobblestone 16-6 and securing another Major title.

SK Gaming became the second team in CS:GO after fnatic to win back-to-back Majors. They proved their critics they can win no matter what.

Highest rated players at ESL One: Cologne 2016:

1. {cflag:BR} Marcelo “coldzera” David (SK Gaming) – 1.37 Rating 

2. {cflag:DK} Nicolai “device” Reedtz (Astralis) – 1.28 Rating 

3. {cflag:BR} Epitacio “TACO” de Melo (SK Gaming) – 1.25 Rating 

4. {cflag:SE} Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson (fnatic) – 1.22 Rating 

5. {cflag:BR} Gabriel ”FalleN” Toledo (SK Gaming) – 1.19 Rating 

6. {cflag:ES} Oscar ”mixwell” Canellas (OpTic) – 1.19 Rating 

7. {cflag:BR} Lincoln “fnx” Lau (SK Gaming) – 1.19 Rating 

8. {cflag:UA} Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (Liquid) – 1.18 Rating 

9. {cflag:RU} Georgi “WorldEdit” Yaskin (FlipSid3) – 1.17 Rating 

10. {cflag:UA} Ioann “Edward” Sukhariev (NAVI) – 1.16 Rating

Tomorrow we take a look at the ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017

TACO

FalleN

coldzera

To get recognized and praised by one of your heroes is not something many get to experience in their lifetime. However, that’s not the case for the 17-year-old Laurențiu "lauNX" Țârlea.

Right before yesterday’s match at IEM Rio between Sprout and Spirit, lauNX was presented with “a little gift” from his CS:GO idol Lincoln “fnx” Lau, in what was a personal video message from the two-timer Major winner.

Here fnx expressed his gratitude for the young Romanian picking his nickname “lauNX” because of him, also offering some wisdom and advice for the promising rifler. Something which clearly made lauNX emotional. You can watch the wholesome moment down below.

Unfortunately for lauNX and Sprout, the motivational speech from fnx wasn't enough for the young team to take the victory against Spirit yesterday at IEM Rio. The 2-0 loss against the Russian squad meant that Sprout was eliminated from the event with a 1-3 score after having lost to BIG and Liquid before hand. 

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lauNX

Sprout

{cflag:BR} Fernando ”fer” Alvarenga - 1.15 rating in 2022

{cflag:BR} Marcelo ”chelo” Cespedes - 1.15 rating in 2022

{cflag:BR} Gabriel ”FalleN” Toledo  - 1.09 rating in 2022

{cflag:BR} Ricardo ”boltz” Prass - 1.08 rating in 2022

{cflag:BR} Vinicius ”VINI” Figueiredo - 0.97 rating in 2022

The hometown favourites. It’s no understatement to say that Imperial will be by far the most popular team at the upcoming Major tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Brazilian “Last Dance” squad, led by the legendary AWPer Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, have had massive backing and support from the Brazilian fans ever since the creation of the team in early 2022.

The huge fan support is an aspect which could help and elevate FalleN and company massively at the Major, especially now when all matches are set to be played in front of a crowd. Something that plays in when you are to consider the favourites of each match – the same can be said about their countrymen from FURIA, although they don’t hold the same popularity as Imperial.

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The signing of the 24-year-old Brazilian Marcelo ”chelo” Cespedes looks to be a very good pickup for the veteran team. By replacing Lincoln “fnx” Lau with chelo, Imperial has received a very potent rifler who offers a lot more firepower to the server than the ageing fnx.

His arrival + the support and help from the Brazilian crowd could make Imperial a real underdog at IEM Rio Major – maybe not to take the overall title in the end – but as a team that could upset a lot of profiled teams.

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chelo

VINI

boltz

Imperial

Lincoln "fnx" Lau will no longer be a player on the starting line-up for Imperial as he will be coaching duties for the IEM Rio Americas RMR and the Major alone. it's still unclear if he will stay as coach after the Major. The team announced that he would remain with them as a content creator and streamer.

The move from player to coach at the RMR marks the end of fnx's six months as a player for imperial. fnx returned to Imperial to reunite with his old two-time major winning core with Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo and Fernando "fer" Alvarenga. 

Who the replacement for fnx will be is still to be announced, but they will attend ESL Challenger Melbourne from September 2-4 which means Imperial needs to find their last player for their five-man roster. 

With the change, the Imperial looks as follows:

The Brazilian head coach Luis “peacemaker” Tadeu is reportedly on his way out of Imperial, according to a report by [link:{"url":"https://blix.gg/news/imperial-and-peacemaker-considering-going-separate-ways","isNewTab":true,"text":"blix.gg"}]. The fact that peacemaker has removed his affiliation with Imperial on his Twitter bio only strengthens the rumors of his exit, which the report also implied.

The departure of peacemaker is the second reported change at Imperial within the last seven days, with several reports claiming that the team also is seeking to replace the two-timer Major winner Lincoln “fnx” Lau. He will allegedly be swapped out with MIBR’s Marcelo “chelo” Cespedes.

{cflag:BR} Vinicius “VINI” Figueiredo

{cflag:BR} Marcelo “chelo” Cespedes (Rumoured)

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According to a report by the media outlet [link:{"url":"https://draft5.gg/noticia/fnx-pode-deixar-a-imperial","isNewTab":true,"text":"Draft5.gg"}], Imperial is looking to demote the two-time Major winner Lincoln “fnx” Lau after representing the team for less than six months. Marcelo “chelo” Cespedes from MIBR is allegedly Imperial favourite pick to replace the 32-year-old rifler.

fnx was signed by Imperial back in February alongside his old teammates Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, Fernando “fer” Alvarenga, Ricardo “boltz” Prass and lastly the former FURIA rifler Vinicius “VINI” Figueiredo. Since the lineup was formed, fnx has been the lowest performing player only averaging a 0.90 rating in his 84 maps for the team.

If the rumours are true, Imperial will post the following lineup:

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The entire Brazilian Counter-Strike scene will probably be watching tonight when Imperial goes head to head with 00Nation for a spot in the group stage at IEM Cologne. The monster match was made possible after Imperial started the day by defeating the Australians from ORDER.

Imperial needed all three maps to go through, but on the decider map of Nuke, they started out with a 13-2 lead after an impressive CT side. And though ORDER gave it their best in the second half the damage was done. Imperial won Nuke 16-11 and knocked out the Australians.

This sets up a reunion of the five legendary members of Luminosity/SK Gaming, who won two Major in 2016. For Imperial, we have fnx, fer, and Fallen, while coldzera and TACO represent 00Nation. The Brazilian Brawl will be played tonight at 19.30 (CEST).

Imperial - ORDER 2-1 | IEM Cologne Play-in

8-16 (Inferno) | {cflag:AU} aliStair - 1.48 Rating / 22-12 K-D / 99.1 ADR

16-8 (Mirage) | {cflag:BR} boltz - 1.45 Rating / 21-13 K-D / 80.5 ADR

16-11 (Nuke) | {cflag:BR} fer - 1.44 Rating / 24-16 K-D / 104.1 ADR

MVP: {cflag:BR} Fernando 'fer' Alvarenga - 1.14 Rating / 55-45 K-D / 81.9 ADR

Order

The lowest ranked team at the PGL Major 2022 in Antwerp is Imperial. Currently ranked as the #32 best team in the world, the Brazilians are not only the underdogs of the prestigious event but are averaging the oldest roster out all teams. With an average age of 28.4, the iconic Brazilians will have to draw upon their experience and abbility to remain calm and collected in pressured situations, to make it far at the event. 

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Two of the oldest, and perhaps most iconic, players within the Imperial line-up, "FalleN" and "fnx" proved just how necessary experience and the ability to remain calm and collected in high-pressure situations is when facing forZe yesterday. After finding themselves left alone against five standing opponents, "fnx" and "FalleN" had to do everything between the two of them to secure the round for their team. 

Finding the perfect opportunities for them to fight and pick apart the five forZe members one by one, the two Brazilians executed a masterclass in remaining composed and clutching a round that seemed impossible otherwise. Thanks to the great synergy between the two and a huge 4K from "FalleN", Imperial managed to put another round on the board thanks to just "fnx" and "FalleN" - take a look: 

[twitchClip:IncredulousUgliestKumquatEleGiggle-V7SQbVw4aeVDHoLU]

In yesterday's elimination match between Imperial and IHC at the Major, the Mongolian underdogs managed to push Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo and his men to the very edge. In the decider on Inferno, the Brazilians were forced to bring their very A-game to secure the victory - including this splendid round on Inferno, where FalleN and fnx brought out two scouts. 

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With an average age of 28.4, the Brazilians of Imperial is the oldest roster at the major. But age is just a number, right?

Lincoln "fnx" Lau, 32, started his career all the way back in Counter-Strike 1.6 where he was played for household organizations such as mibr, compLexity, and paiN. In 2016 the rifler was hailed as the 19th best player in the world. The veteran has not been competing at the top level for a long time but has now come back to show that he still has what it takes.

Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo aka. The Godfather of Brazilian Counter-Strike, 30, is one of the most tenured IGLs in all of CS:GO. At the height of his career, he led the best players in the game, including his current teammates "fnx" and "fer" to many S-tier events wins, including two majors. His individual prowess with the AWP has also yielded him two top 6 spots on HLTV's top 20.

Fernando "fer" Alvarenga, 30, is known for his ability to always catch his opponents off-guard with his excellent aggressive maneuvers. With an opening kill rating of 1.12 versus top30 teams, he is ranked as the 11th best player of all time in opening duels. The impact he has on a team has earned him two spots on the HLTV top20, one as #3.

Ricardo "boltz" Prass, 25, the 18th best player of 2017 has been a part of the professional Brazilian CS:GO scene since 2014. He has been a valuable component of a large number of the biggest Brazilian rosters throughout the last eight years. He placed second at the PGL Major Kraków 2017 as a part of Immortals and won ESL Pro League Season 6 as a part of SK Gaming.

The last player on the Imperial squad is Vinicius "VINI" Figueiredo. The 22-year-old is most known for his supportive work in FURIA, where he played for more than four years and was an integral part of the meteoric rise they had in 2018/2019. "VINI" is by far the youngest player on the team, but what he lacks in wisdom he makes up for in skill.

Between them, these five men, who have not been playing together for much more than three months, have six MVPs, countless trophies, and more than 60 years of professional Counter-Strike experience between them.

The team is currently sitting at a 72.7% win rate, and are up 9-5 in maps versus other teams attending the major. The Brazilians have yet to test the waters on the other side of the Atlantic though, as they have only been playing against North- and South American teams since they came together as a squad and were picked up by Imperial.

Imperial will be without their coach Luis "peacemaker" Tadeu, who just a few days ago was banned from the event due to use of the free-roam spectator bug in 2018.

It has been a long time since many of these players have been at the absolute top, but now they once again have to show what they are made of!

The $1,000,000 tournament is starting next week. Here 16 teams will fight to make it into the Legends stage of the Major.

The Finnish Organization will be one of the hottest going into the Major. Their win at BLAST Spring Showdown underlined their perfectly timed form. In the Challengers stage, ENCE will face 9z Team in the first round.

Player to watch: Lotan "Spinx" Giladi is playing some of the best Counter-Strike in his career. If the Israeli can perform on the big stage, he could be one of the best players in the tournament.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/trace_wmbh2k","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

trace has been promoted as headcoach on a permanent basis after several good performances.

The four-time Major winners are beginning to look good again. The signing of Asger "farlig" Jensen on the AWP and Martin "trace" Heldt as a coach has been a revelation for the Danes. For the first time in a year, it is actually looking promising for Astalis, who was only bested by ENCE in the Grand Final of BLAST Spring Showdown last week.

Player to watch: If Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke can deliver consistently on a high level, then Astralis will be a dangerous team at the Major. With Benjamin "blameF" Bremer already in excellent shape, it could be real fun for the fans of Astralis if k0nfig also fired on all cylinders at the event.

The French/Danish roster had one of the most difficult routes to Antwerp with matches against #1 and #2 in the world. In the end they still qualified and it did look better for the team. Most notable was the rise of Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut, who finally showcased his great talent on the new roster.

Player to watch: All eyes will be on the young Frenchman Kévin "misutaaa" Rabier. The 19-year-old rifler has suffered the most from the switch from the all-French roster to the new international one. With four events in row below 1.00 rating there will be talks about replacing misutaaa on the team, if doesn’t deliver at PGL Antwerp.

The Grand Finalist from the 2021 Major in Stockholm are looking shaky in 2022. They started well with the second place at IEM Katowice, but since then the performances on the server have not been impressive. Nemanja "huNter-" Kovač is the only player on the team with consistent performances. The alarm bells were ringing after they lost their opening match against Anonymo at the RMR qualifier, but in the end they got the job done with a win against Astralis in overtime on the decider map. We could easily see G2 make a slow start to the Challenger Stage but still qualify.

Player to watch: Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov will be playing his first major at the age of 17-years-old. There will be a huge pressure on the young AWP’er to perform on the biggest stage. So how will he do? We are looking forward to seeing him at the Major.

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FalleN with his new teammates at the RMR tournament.

Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo’s new project got off to a great start qualifying for the Antwerp Major and then went on to also qualify for IEM Dallas. The Brazilians took down MIBR at the Dallas qualifier to prove, that they could be the second strongest team from South America after FURIA.

Player to watch: Lincoln "fnx" Lau has one of the most crazy stats in all of CS:GO. The 32-year-old Brazilian have won two Majors in his career but have only ever attended two. He has a 100% win-rate at Majors, so who wouldn’t have him on their team at a Major?

There are a lot of teams in contention for the last three spots. The Swiss Group Stage format can be brutal for teams in this echelon. Eternal Fire got the taste of it at the European RMR tournament, where they were paired with FaZe and Team Vitality along their way. This time they will face Bad News Eagles in an early key match. A win will most likely give the Turks a big boost towards qualifying for the Legends stage.

Player to watch: Ismailcan 'XANTARES' Dörtkardeş is back at a Major for the third time in his career. The Turkish rifler is coming in hot at the event with several huge performances during 2022 for Eternal Fire.

They looked really good at the Americas RMR tournament, but the big question is if that was a one-off. Since they qualified for Antwerp MIBR has lost to both Imperial and paiN. Their opening match against Outsiders will be pivotal. MIBR rarely plays against Europeans, so it is hard to predict the faith of the Brazilians at the event.

Player to watch: Jhonatan "JOTA" Willian has never played against a top 20 team in the world! So how will he do against tougher opposition?

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shox says hello to his new teammate EliGE at an event last year

The sheer amount of experience on the Team Liquid roster should be enough to see them qualify for the next stage. But the results of the new roster have not been convincing in the past couple of months. Their last match was a loss against paiN at the BLAST Spring Showdown, which again ignited the doubters of the team. The North Americans enter the tournament with a Contender status, which has given them a tough draw in the first round, where they will face G2. We still believe that the stars of Liquid find a way through.

Player to watch: Is Richard "shox" Papillon the right fit for Team Liquid? This Major will probably give us the answer. The 29-year-old veteran has always been a joy to watch, but can he still deliver for Team Liquid?

It is a tough time for all the CIS teams at the moment. The war in Ukraine has certainly had its influence on the competitive CS:GO scene as well. Outsiders (Virtus.pro) have been a shadow of themselves. They were 0.02 seconds away from missing out on the Major, while rumors are already sending their starplayer Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis away to join a new team after the Major.

forZe and Spirit could also be dark horses for a spot in the next stage, while Bad News Eagles are the last team, that we have chosen to highlight. As the only second team in history to compete in a Major without an organization, the roster from Kosovo can play without any expectations from the outside world. A fact that can make them dangerous to face.

Spinx

k0nfig

Misutaaa

m0NESY

XANTARES

shox

A dream for many Brazilian Counter-Strike fans became a reality last night, when Imperial announced, that they had signed Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo and four other Brazilian stars to their new team.

The news broke out after a long time of rumors about the project. Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo is joined by Vinicius "⁠VINI⁠" Figueiredo, Ricardo "⁠boltz⁠" Prass, Fernando "⁠fer⁠" Alvarenga, and Lincoln "⁠fnx⁠" Lau on the project with the two latter being part of the biggest success in Brazilian CS:GO history with two Major victories back in 2016 together with FalleN.

In December 2021, we talked with Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo about the project, which did not seem like a possibility at the time.

The reason why "The Professor" talked the project down is unknown, but according to a Brazilian journalist, Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo had received an offer from a "top 3" team in the world.

As a coach on the project, the experienced Luis "

" Tadeu has been brought in to support the new roster.

Will the two-time Major winner Lincoln "fnx" Lau show the same levels together with FalleN and company in their new "Last Dance" team? - Watch fnx in today's Pley of the Day in the video below.

The superstar core behind SK Gaming and Luminosity’s Major victories in 2016 and 2017 could soon be reunited under a completely new banner.

A report by [link:{"url":"https://ge.globo.com/esports/csgo/noticia/csgo-imperial-faz-proposta-pelo-last-dance.ghtml?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter","isNewTab":true,"text":"Globo Esporte"}] and Roque Marques, state that the profiled trio of Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, Fernando "fer" Alvarenga, and Lincoln " fnx " Lau has been presented an offer from Imperial, together with their countrymen Ricardo "boltz" Prass and Vinicius "VINI" Figueiredo. 

The Brazilian media outlet state that the roster already has met with Imperial’s CEO, Felippe "felippe1" Martins, where negotiations for a potential signing happened. One of the things which could delay or cause problems is the fact that FalleN, VINI, and boltz all are contracted with Liquid, FURIA, and MIBR respectively - That means Imperial is required to negotiate with the aforementioned teams for a buyout. 

{cflag:BR} Luis " peacemaker " Tadeu (Coach)

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It’s a known fact in the Counter-Strike world that after a CS:GO Major the silly-season kicks off. In this period, a ton of teams and players are looking to either rebuild or find a new home, causing a myriad of transfer rumours and chatter.

One of the rumours circling around has been the creation of a new Brazilian super team, a so-called “Last Dance” team led by Gabriel “Fallen” Toledo and some other profiled Brazilians, including Fernando "fer" Alvarenga and Lincoln "fnx" Lau.

Before the start of BLAST Premier World Final, we got the chance to sit down with FalleN to talk about his future and the possibility of this “Last Dance” roster.

- In order to build a Brazilian team that can be the best team in the world, you have to put certain pieces together, that doesn’t ever seem to exist. That’s why I say, a Brazilian tier-1 team in this exact situation, is very tough to build, FalleN said.

You can hear the superstar AWPer elaborate his thoughts in the interview on our YouTube down below.

- Why he believes FURIA has held back the creation of a top-tier Brazilian team

- And what kind of CS:GO project he wants to build or join in the future

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Team Liquid

The rise of a new Brazilian super team could soon be a reality. At least if you believe all the rumours and reports, which have been circulating in the Counter-Strike community in recent weeks and months. 

One of the most exciting rumours is the story about the creation of a “Last Dance” roster built around the two-timer Major winner trio Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo, Fernando "fer" Alvarenga, Lincoln "fnx" Lau and joined by Ricardo " boltz " Prass.

A recent [link:{"url":"https://draft5.gg/noticia/vini-e-cotado-para-completar-last-dance","isNewTab":true,"text":"report "}]from the Brazilian media DRAFT5 can now inform that FURIA’s Vinicius " VINI " Figueiredo is being considered as the last piece in the puzzle on the already profiled roster. The report state that there have been conversations between the two parties, and that the deal depends on an agreement with FURIA.

The rumours of VINI joining the Brazilian quartet emerge two weeks after FURIA announced his departure from the Brazilian top team. Straight after, VINI wrote a [link:{"url":"https://twitter.com/FURIA_VINI/status/1463936176868450313","isNewTab":true,"text":"Twitlonger"}] about the exit and his situation.

- FURIA, through Guerri (FURIA coach), came to the conclusion that they wouldn't want to count on me for the 2022 season. Obviously, I'm saddened by the decision, but life as a professional athlete goes that way. My desire is to continue playing CSGO professionally, so at the moment I am evaluating all the proposals for my future as a player, VINI wrote.

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If the rumours are true, the “Last Dance” roster will look as follows.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"Gamle billeder/sk_esl_Helena-Kristiansson_tifwx0","originalWidth":548,"originalHeight":308,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: ESL Helena Kristiansson"}]

FalleN, fer and fnx (the trio on the right) lifting the ESL One Cologne Major trophy in 2016 - Photo credit: ESL and Helena Kristiansson

FURIA

Lincoln “fnx” Lau is a problem. The two-time Major winning, tatted-up Brazilian bad boy might be extremely talented, but off the server he’s known for being problem-causing liability for his teammates.

So why is it that every roster that gives him the boot is doomed to never win a Major without him?

Well it’s really simple: “No fnx, no Major.”

The Brazilian player fnx played recently with his former teammate falleN on his stream. The two legends won two majors together at ESL One Cologne 2016 and MLG Columbus 2016. Even though they haven’t had the same success since fnx produced a worthy major moment on falleN’s stream. fnx throws a flash and decides to peak at the exact right time, no scoping his enemy with a clean headshot.

[twitchVideo:gafallen/clip/BeautifulGrotesquePigDoubleRainbow]

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fnx

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Articles mentioning fnx

ESL One: Cologne 2016: From irrelevancy to World Champions

Young Sprout talent in tears after personal message from CS:GO legend

IEM Rio Major Preview: Imperial

Fnx to become coach and content creator for Imperial

Media: Imperial set to make another change

Imperial to replace fnx with MIBR star

Imperial defeats ORDER to set up a huge match against 00Nation

Highlight: fnx and FalleN in spectacular 2 vs 5 clutch

Double Trouble on Inferno - Featuring FalleN & fnx

Imperial: The Old Boys

CS:GO Pick’em for PGL Antwerp Challenger Stage

Legendary Brazilians create new team for FalleN's Last Dance

Pley of the Day: fnx with a GODLIKE 1v4 clutch on Mirage!

Media: Brazilian org makes a bid for FalleN’s “Last Dance” lineup

FalleN talks down ”Last Dance” roster: It’s not a realistic project

Sources: VINI to round off Brazilian “Last Dance” roster

The rise and fall of CS:GO’s Brazilian bad boy

Video: Brazilian legend makes insane no scope headshot

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