8 and a half years ago I watched in glee as karrigan and NiKo threw away their chance at their first Major trophy with the iconic choke against Cloud9.

Now, I watched in horror as karrigan, after having blasted him on the podcast, actually had the juice to make Falcons look like Vitality killers.

The funny thing about karrigan, though, is that the horror fades quite quickly. And then you can’t help but f-cking love the bloke.

And then when that horror fades, you can appreciate what we all witnessed during the quarters, semis, and of course, this absolute rampage of a grand final: his masterful calling. He’s a man who has no business doing any of this sh-t, but was he’s done in such a small amount of time with Falcons is nothing short of miraculous, and I owe him the most sincere of apologies.

As for the final itself, even though it was such a battering, it’s hard not to look back on it with happiness. Sure, we all want a blockbuster BO5, but this was something else. This was a promise being fulfilled. Not just NiKo getting his Major, but Falcons truly arriving amongst the elite and breaking the finals curse, making CS all the more interesting for it.

It began on Mirage with NiKo, m0NESY, karrigan, and co. going 6-0 up, and we all already knew it was wraps from there.

FURIA did try to fight back, and the fought valiantly on both Anubis on Inferno, too. It didn’t matter though: 13-8, 13-8, 13-8.

A heartbreak for FalleN, who will never have a greater opportunity than this to win the big one once more before he retires, but a statement of intent from the rest of his boys: they will win a Major, that I am sure.

The main thing, though, is that NiKo finally has his. It’s easy to say that you don’t deserve to win one until you actually do win one, and that might be true. It’s impossible to say he didn’t deserve this one.

A man who has been called a choker throughout his career, he stood tall throughout this event.

And now that we’ve seen him win one, we don’t think it’ll be his last.

Final standings at the Cologne Major:

1st 🇪🇺 Falcons – $500.000
2nd 🇧🇷 FURIA – $170.000
3-4th 🇷🇺 Spirit – $80.000
3-4th 🇹🇷 Aurora – $80.000
5-8th 🇪🇺 Vitality – $45.000
5-8th 🇪🇺 G2 – $45.000
5-8th 🏳️ 9z – $45.000
5-8th 🇷🇺 BetBoom – $45.000