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GUIDES
Simple Radar
© 2026 TLDR Media, All Rights Reserved.
Redemption is a dish best served American
The final event before the Major is done and there we saw David slay Goliath… Just not the Goliath you’re thinking of.
We mean Imperial Valkyries, who were took down by the eventual winners of the Impact event, FURIA Fe. Good on you, girls.
In the land where everything’s bigger, the IEM Dallas 2025 Playoffs were no exception.
Falcons’ losing streak to Vitality grew, and so did their rivals’ winning run.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
It all started with The MongolZ showing signs that they may have finally overcome their choking problem, securing a confident 2-0 victory over Aurora. Especially Senzu, who’s faced his fair share of criticism for disappearing under the spotlight. This time, though, credit where it’s due. The kid popped off, delivering a 1.50 rating across Dust2 and Mirage.
Unfortunately, that didn’t last long.
In the semifinal against MOUZ, Senzu reverted to his usual stage form in what ended up being a clean sweep. To be fair, hardly anyone on The MongolZ delivered strong numbers, even though both maps were close 13-11 wins for Brollan’s squad. We say ‘hardly’ because 910 deserves a shoutout - the only one who actually tried to make something happen.
As for MOUZ, it was solid performances across the board, but we’ve got to highlight this sick Jimpphat 4K in OT. Hey Falcons, do what you do best and throw some money at this kid already.
On the other side of the bracket, a clash of the titans was inevitable, with Falcons and Vitality pretty much set to face off for a spot in the grand final.
But first, Falcons had to get past GamerLegion. The match wasn’t as easy as most expected - probably not even Falcons themselves. In a tough battle, Falcons ultimately triumphed on the Inferno decider, after taking Ancient but dropping Nuke, with TeSeS and m0NESY leading the charge. A bit too close for comfort.
But they had little time to reflect, as the very next day they faced their kryptonite - well, everyone’s kryptonite, really.
In what felt like a grand final preview, both teams traded blows in the first two maps - Dust2 going to Vitality, and Train falling to Falcons.
On Inferno, Vitality jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but Falcons fired back with six rounds of their own. Vitality pulled ahead again to 12-7, but Falcons fought back hard, thanks in part to this insane Magisk 1vs3 clutch.
In the end, it just wasn’t enough, as Falcons stumbled at the final hurdle and Vitality closed it out 13-11. Whenever these two meet, you just know it’s gonna be a banger.
We’ve got to mention ZywOo, though, who’s been a bit off his usual pace throughout the tournament. But of course, even when he’s underperforming, he’s still miles ahead of some players’ best. Plus, having ropz, mezii, flameZ, and apEX on your team doesn’t hurt.
Honestly, with those guys on our side, we could probably win some trophies too. Who are we kidding…
Heading into the grand final, Vitality looked unstoppable - poised to grab their 30th win and sixth trophy in a row - while MOUZ prepared to give it their all.
Much like in Soccer, the only American team to make the Dallas arena was in the women's circuit. But also much like in futebol, the Brazilians showed up in force.
This season’s ESL Impact League Finals concluded with a grand final game on the main stage in front of the crowd. We think it replaced a show match, but let's be honest, no one remembers the show match.
The Brazilian fans rallied together to support their team, and not to be outdone the American fans brought out their most original chants such as “USA, USA!” and the iconic “USA, USA!”
Never change, Americans.
Astute Impact fans may be wondering: where the hell is Imperial Valkyries? The six-time championship winning core suffered an early loss to NIP, before being eliminated in the semifinals by FURIA Fe. On the other side of the bracket, Supernova Comets defied expectations by defeating NIP 2-0 to make it to the finals.
Both teams started out by trading map picks: Supernova Comets took map one on ancient 13-9, with rifler empathy putting up an astonishing 35 kills and 2.65 rating. FURIA Fe responded by winning Dust2 13-7.
Would map three of inferno live up to our podcast’s name and deliver as a decider? FURIA Fe took the lead in the first half, but Supernova were poised to reset their economy and tie things up at nine all… Then they remembered the classic NA strategy: throw a 5v2 advantage.
With that round win, FURIA Fe took control and closed out the map 13-8, being crowned as champions of ESL Impact Season 7, the first time a team other than the Imperial Valkryies core has done so. Star rifler bizinha took home the MVP award, with a 1.30 rating across the event.
This is a big win for a Brazilian team that finished second in the last two Impact finals. They celebrated on stage, lifting the trophy as their fans cheered, sang, and showed Americans what true patriotism looks like.
Vamos.
Final standings for Impact S7:
1st 🇧🇷 FURIA fe – $50.000
2nd 🇺🇸 Supernova Coments – $25.000
3-4th 🇪🇺 Imperial Valkyries – $13.000
3-4th 🇪🇺 NIP Impact – $13.000
5-6th 🇫🇷 Zerance – $7.000
5-6th 🏳️ FlyQuest RED – $7.000
What do you do when you’ve won six tournaments in a row? If you’re flameZ, you just keep talking about winning more.
There’s just one event left in the season, and it’s the biggest one of all. The Major.
The only prestigious trophy vacant from the young gun’s cabinet, he knows that it’s the one trophy he needs to win if his name is going to live on eternally in Counter-Strike history.
Our very own James ‘Fuffy’ Sherpa had a chat with flameZ in Dallas:
TLDR: Congratulations on the win, you're probably getting used to it at this point, but how are you feeling?
flameZ: I'm feeling great. To be honest, it's very nice to some extent feel like you played sloppy or you didn't have enough prep coming into the tournament, but still managing to close out the close games and we kept doing that throughout. It's also a big prep for the Major, so winning here means a lot to us.
apEX was speaking about coming in with less prep and seeing how it would all play out, using it to ramp up ahead of the Major. Now that you've won it without the preparation, what are you planning to work on before the Major?
Well, now we'll take everything we did shit in Dallas and make it good for Austin. That's the idea.
We'll have a bootcamp, so that's obviously something that we're going to put a lot of focus in. We need to make sure the preparation for the Major will be golden, because if this is the warm-up and this is how we played, it'll be really good for us.
When it comes to being in front of the NA crowd, how was that as a taster for the Major?
I think the NA crowd is amazing. We were here last year and I really enjoyed the final then. Even though Stewie was playing for G2 and the crowd was rooting for them, it feels like they cheer for Counter-Strike. They still cheer on people when they make a crazy play. I really like those kinds of arenas, it reminds me of Cologne, or even Melbourne that was surprisingly one of the best events I've played.
It's also just really nice to be in a hot country, because Europe is super cold.
You mentioned some of the close games and sloppy moments, but it seems like you always come out on top in those moments. When you're in the server and watching it all play out, how does it feel?
We're working really hard on having people still be vocal even when they die, so there's a lot of confidence in the team and the players no matter who is in the 2vs2 or whatever. But, obviously, when ZywOo is in a 1vs2, I'm very confident.
Everyone is focused on the Major right now, but in the longer term, are there any goals for you past winning a Major?
I'm 21 right now, the final day of the Major I'll be 22, so... hopefully by 22 I have a Major trophy.
If that's the case, I'm not going to stop. We're going to get another Cologne, another Katowice, another Major.
There are few players that have achieved all that at such a young age, maybe b1t, but I think it would be super nice to gain speed on the trophies and I'm very glad that I said back in all my OG interviews that I want to get to top one and keep that spot.
Right now, we've won six tournaments in a row, and that makes us really big champions, so that's already a very decorated career. But, without the Major, people are going to remember you for not having one. I want one.
You know who MOUZ need? Stewie2k.
Seriously, think about it. Vitality looked destined to lift the IEM Dallas trophy last year when they faced G2 with a stand-in, but the most impactful player in NA history stood tall in the face of destiny and he came out on top.
You know who didn’t? MOUZ.
We’re just saying, there might be something there.
We’ve been spoiled for finals in the last few months, Vitality may have won each and every won of them, but they all came down to five-map affairs with countless banger rounds. But not this one. The banger rounds may have still been present, this Jimpphat 1vs5 was a little tasty on Dust2, but that really was as good as it got for MOUZ in the final.
In short, MOUZ got spanked. 13-11 on Dust2, that was the closest MOUZ ever managed to make a scoreline, and even looked like they might take an early lead in the series at 11-8 up.
Sadly for them, though, they had to contend with ZywOo, and the Frenchman put on a show to secure Vitality the win and one notch towards their sixth successive trophy.
Vitality’s momentum didn’t stop there, either. After winning their CT pistol on Mirage, their defence was penetrated just twice across the 12 rounds MOUZ attempted to test it, leaving Vitality with a commanding 10-2 lead on their opponent’s map pick.
13-9 when it was all said and done, MOUZ did try valiantly to pull off the comeback, but a second 2023 arena xertioN performance was enough to reduce MOUZ to all bark and no bite.
All squeak and no nibble? Yeah, something like that.
Oh, and ZywOo managed to pull off this ace during the opening stages of Mirage. F*cking revolting. Why can’t we play like him?
Map three, Inferno, saw MOUZ take the lead on a map for the first time since collapsing on Dust2, but it didn’t last long. At all. Vitality took a 7-5 lead into their CT side on the final map, and soon managed to convert it to a 13-8 victory thanks to MOUZ’s limp attack.
A series that looked like the MOUZ of old had entered the server, we’re now concerned for them going into the Major, but we have no concerns for Vitality. They’re the best in the world, and they might just be the best to ever do it.
Final standings:
1st 🇪🇺 Vitality – $125.000
2nd 🇪🇺 MOUZ – $50.000
3-4th 🇪🇺 Falcons – $25.000
3-4th 🇲🇳 The MongolZ – $25.000
5-6th 🇪🇺 GamerLegion – $12.500
5-6th 🇹🇷 Aurora – $12.500
7-8th 🇪🇺 G2 – $7.000
7-8th 🇪🇺 HEROIC – $7.000
