Team Falcons started on a strong note at the Esports World Cup 2025 CS2 event, with the star duo m0NESY and NiKo shining against their former team G2 Esports in front of an energetic home crowd.
Falcons secured a 2-0 sweep over the European giants, with NiKo leading the charge on a 1.47 rating, tallying 40 kills and 31 deaths, followed by m0NESY with a 1.29 rating, posting 33 kills and 25 deaths across both maps.
Although he didn’t top the scoreboard, m0NESY expressed relief at delivering a strong showing after underperforming in the past two big CS2 tournaments.
“For me, the last two tournaments in Cologne and Major, we’re not great individually. I had this downfall of individual performance, but I believe it’s a period I have to go through,” m0NESY told Dot Esports in an interview.
In Team Falcons’ abysmal 20th place finish at the Austin Major 2025, m0NESY had a disappointing 1.05 rating after playing eight maps in Stage 2. The superstar AWPer had a chance to redeem himself at IEM Cologne, but he failed to do so and only managed a 1.06 rating as Falcons fell in the group stage.
Now at EWC 2025, the 20-year-old Russian pro promised to regain his top form. “In this tournament (EWC 2025) and the next tournaments, I will be in better shape. Yes, I’m not in my great form right now, but will make it happen. I’ll be better.”
At the time of writing, Falcons has only played two maps so far at EWC, but m0NESY is already showing flashes of brilliance especially against his former team.
Asked if they had to face any unexpected challenges against G2, he shared: “They were shooting very good. Like, individually, I think they played very good, especially on Train.” In the second map on Train, G2 had a six-round lead at the start. However, right after, Team Falcons began taking control on their way to a 13-7 win.
“We had our opportunity to come back, and they gave us that opportunity. They were reading us good and also shooting back,” m0NESY said. Round 11 on Train saw m0NESY and Niko duo clutch the round for Falcons.
M0NESY’s strong showing is a promising sign that his sharp form is returning, following a string of underwhelming individual performances in recent tournaments. Up next, the home favorites at EWC will face heavy title contenders MOUZ in the quarterfinals.
