Falcons are heading to Rotterdam Ahoy! The fan-favorite squad took down FURIA in a thrilling three map series, with a flawless Nuke CT side giving the international side the win. Falcons will now make their way to the playoffs, while FURIA are eliminated just before the Major VRS invite cutoff.
Team Rosters – Falcons vs. FURIA – BLAST Open Rotterdam
| Falcons | FURIA |
|---|---|
| Yuri “yuurih” Boian | Nikola “NiKo” Kovač |
| Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato | René “TeSeS” Madsen |
| Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo | Damjan “kyxsan” Stoilkovski |
| Danil “molodoy” Golubenko | Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov |
| Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis | Maksim “kyousuke” Lukin |
| Sidnei “sidde” Macedo (C) | Danny “zonic” Sørensen (C) |
Match Recap – Falcons vs. FURIA – BLAST Open Rotterdam
- Falcons removed Overpass
- FURIA removed Ancient
- Falcons picked Mirage
- FURIA picked Dust2
- Falcons removed Inferno
- FURIA removed Anubis
- Nuke was left over
Mirage – Falcons steal the map – 13-11
yuurih and FalleN opened with double kills to secure a pistol win, but FURIA’s CT side remained contested. KSCERATO’s smoke spam denied Falcons’ third-round buy, while NiKo’s mid-play highlighted by a sharp flick onto YEKINDAR stole round four back. The two sides traded blows, neither pulling clear, until a brilliant A-site stack behind molodoy’s AWP gave FURIA a 7-5 halftime lead.
The second half stayed tight. A clutch 1v1 from TeSeS levelled things, before NiKo and kyxsan’s overaggressive A-ramp push ran straight into yuurih’s rifle, swinging momentum firmly to FURIA at 11-7. But Falcons found another gear. TeSeS anchored B superbly as the riflers collectively lifted their game, turning what looked like a FURIA win into a 13-11 Falcons steal.
Dust2 – YEKINDAR fires up after a mouse-breaking round – 16-13
Falcons arrived on Dust2 with confidence soaring. NiKo’s three USP-S headshots secured an early full buy, but FURIA clawed back with a B-site attack, with molodoy’s AWP clinching a nervy anti-eco round to keep them in control. FURIA’s rare double AWP headlined the following rounds, but it was yuurih’s rifle dropping three in lower tunnels that stretched the lead to 5-2. Towards the end of the half, KSCERATO’s ace sealed an 8-4 lead for FURIA.
Falcons came out swinging on their T-side with a Rush B win, and kyxsan ran down long to take two with him. They hit peak form at the right moment, levelling at 8-8 and pushing ahead to 11-9. FURIA had the perfect spawn-read for Falcons’ round 21 B-split though, shutting it down to break the economy and reach matchpoint. A comfortable win looked certain until Falcons crashed A-site on a broken buy and forced overtime.
Falcons carried their form in, winning the first OT round and prompting a frustrated YEKINDAR to smash his mouse. After a pause, the Latvian came back fired up, helping FURIA rattle off two straight. Round 28 was a perplexing one, as both teams ran out of utility before the bomb was even planted. Luckily though, FURIA kept their cool, using HE-grenades to cross the B doors and secure matchpoint, then pushed the series to a third map.
Nuke – FURIA fumble against a flawless Falcons CT side – 13-10
Falcons started Nuke off with a 3-2 lead ahead of the first gun round. But with rifles out, FURIA took control of the map, with the Brazilian trio topping the charts once more. m0NESY and TeSeS tried to keep FURIA in check, but with the rest of the Falcons missing, FURIA took a comfortably 9-3 lead in the half.
Falcons picked up the must win pistol round to start their defence, and slowly but steadily they clawed back into the game. m0NESY and TeSeS still led the way, but kyousuke was slowly making his way up the leaderboard as well. Without a single lost round, Falcons tied up FURIA’s once massive advantage, and set themselves up for a battle for the series.
FURIA’s best chance at a round came in the 19th, with molodoy faltering in a 1v1 clutch against the Falcons sniper, and Falcons put the pedal back down to the metal, as the flawless CT half continued. At long last KSCERATO found something for his team, giving them one final round before Falcons eliminated them from the event 13-10.
Series Statistics – Falcons vs. FURIA – 13-10
| Player | Kills | Assists | Deaths | ADR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FLC m0NESY | 65 | 9 | 42 | 78.1 |
| FUR KSCERATO | 63 | 18 | 51 | 83.6 |
| FLC kyousuke | 55 | 17 | 53 | 71.5 |
| FUR yuurih | 51 | 15 | 50 | 72.9 |
| FUR molodoy | 49 | 16 | 48 | 67.6 |
| FUR YEKINDAR | 46 | 21 | 50 | 72.5 |
| FLC TeSeS | 44 | 23 | 55 | 72.8 |
| FLC NiKo | 42 | 16 | 52 | 62.8 |
| FLC kyxsan | 42 | 24 | 50 | 65.1 |
| FUR FalleN | 42 | 18 | 52 | 65.6 |
Editor’s Note: This was probably one of the most convincing “close match” wins that Falcons has put together so far. Usually their victories come from the sheer abundance of firepower, while close matches usually get away from them at a canter. But map after map, Falcons showed tenacity that the team can often lack.
On all three maps, Falcons battled back from a deficit to give themselves a chance to win the series. Nuke is obviously the most-impressive, but even their loss on Dust2 had flashes of brilliance. If this level can continue on stage at the Rotterdam Ahoy, Falcons will throw their hat into the ring once more.
