Falcons take the Cologne Major, and they did it the hard way

There’s an easy way to win a Major. Then there’s the way Team Falcons just did it.

Handed the ugliest Playoff bracket anyone’s drawn in the modern era, they beat the defending champions, survived the scariest best-of-three specialists in the field, and swept a rampant FURIA.

The prize: the first Major trophy in the organization’s history.

Three rounds of hell before the trophy

The reward for reaching Playoffs was an immediate date with Vitality, the reigning Major Champions.

Falcons took it 2-1. Every map went the full 24 rounds. Three coin-flips in a row, all landing their way.

The Semifinal against Team Spirit was arguably harder than the final itself. Two maps needed Overtime before Falcons closed it out on Dust II, 16:12, to reach their first Grand Final.

Then the final was the calm part. Falcons dismantled FURIA 3-0 to lift the trophy at the Cathedral of Counter-Strike. FURIA still didn’t take a map.