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GUIDES
Simple Radar
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Karrigan vs FalleN: who’s cementing their legacy?
A battle of the greats that feels like it’s pulled straight out of the last time Cologne hosted a Major, and boy are we ready.
Spirit and Aurora are out, with the last two duking it out for that sexy sexy trophy.
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FURIA have done it, they’re through to the final of IEM Cologne, ten years after FalleN won his last Major in this very arena.
And it was f-cking easy too.
A typical bit of stage fright from the Turks helped them get there, of course, but with yuurih playing like this, you better be sure that FURIA are in tournament-winning form again.
13-9 on Dust2 and 13-4 on Nuke yuurih topped the charts with 34 kills and a 1.62 rating across the two maps, but given that two other FURIA members were on 30+ and one more was on 29, it was very much a team effort to get them over the line.
Aurora themselves will be disappointed, though. They looked great against BetBoom but really didn’t show up in the semis, and it could be the final nail in the coffin for them as the organisation is rumoured to be looking to move away from the fully Turkish roster.
A shame, but look: they don’t win sh-t.
As for FURIA’s chances in the final, there’s something to be said about the quality of opposition they’ve faced so far. Have they been tested at this Major? No. Have they been very fortunate to dodge every decent team? Absolutely. What effect will that have on them in the final?
Not a f-cking clue.
It could be that the confidence built up is enough to get them over the line. But it could also be that they get shellshocked by their first elite-level opposition here in Cologne.
One thing is for certain though: the professor has a chance to deliver a fine lecture, and you already know he’s preparing in great detail.
For a team built around a star player fragging, it would really help them win tournaments if that star player actually fragged.
donk didn’t.
With a 0.96 rating over the three maps the Spirit - Falcons match went to, you really wonder if Jab Jabich could’ve managed better during the timeouts. This doesn’t mean it wasn’t close though, with sh1ro doing his best to both help magixx calm the team down and frag out.
Alas, 14-16 on Anubis, 13-8 on Mirage, and 12-16 on Dust 2 and Spirit are out of the Major in the semis.
Karrigan’s fragging still seems like an issue, even though he put up good numbers during their loss on Mirage (which might explain their loss on Mirage - if you’re relying on karrigan to perform what is the rest of your team doing?)
The rest of Falcons put up good numbers however, which bodes confidence for the grand final, where they’ll meet FURIA.
Either way, Spirit looked like the lack of coach was really affecting their details, and that’s where the devil lurks.
Meanwhile, Falcons look like they’re slowly but surely getting out of their adjustment period - but are still not as perfect as they should be.
The donk GOAT debate seems to be put to rest for now, and a new one is going to carried out today during the grand final regarding who will cement their legacy as the greatest leader of men.
Logic has been thrown out the window here in Cologne.
Vitality’s stability is gone and donk didn’t turn up for playoffs. The guys who did show up for their team however, are the veteran IGL’s of FURIA (2.20) and Falcons (1.61). Both captains have repeatedly produced excellent calls in the playoffs
If you feel like backing the superior IGL AND player (FalleN) to ruin karrigan’s big moment, then sign-up to Razed and play now.
Karrigan might not be putting up numbers, but he’s still as good at exploiting playoff nerves as he pushes through a smoke in the final rounds of Dust 2 to deny a plant and get two kills.
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We told you Spirit owned the semi-final matchup and Falcons would "probably still lose." Falcons walked out and ground donk's Spirit into the carpet 2-1 - the one team we swore they couldn't put away. We're starting to take this personally.
Not that there was anything comfortable about it. Monte, NAVI, Vitality, Spirit - every single playoff series dragged to a deciding map, and Falcons won the lot. The team led by the worst gun in the building is somehow one best-of-five from a Major.
Across the bracket stands the actual feel-good story: FURIA, the world #5 to Falcons' #4, hauling FalleN to one more final. They've been the cleaner side by quite a lot - B8, MOUZ, BetBoom, 9z and Aurora all seen off without much sweat. And Brazil has already left a mark on Falcons this season: Legacy snatched the CAC trophy out of their hands a few weeks back. Now a second Brazilian team is the only thing standing between Falcons and redemption.
Recent history actually belongs to FURIA - 2-0 at Rio, 2-1 in Rotterdam. But Falcons got the last word at PGL Astana, edging it 2-1 the masochist's way: two overtime nailbiters, 17-19 on Dust2 and 20-22 on Nuke, with FURIA's lone map (Mirage, 13-9) the only thing keeping the series respectable. If you like your grand finals decided by a single round, seemingly like every other game in the playoffs stage, then this final’s for you.
As ever, m0NESY is the best man on the server, his 1.25 just shading molodoy's 1.16 in the AWP duel - exactly the edge that keeps winning Falcons the rounds that matter. KSCERATO (1.18) is FURIA's reply, and a good one. The real comedy is at the back: both teams are captained by men who couldn't hit water from a boat. karrigan idles at 0.80, FalleN at 0.92 - the two lowest guns in the building, one of whom is now guaranteed to lift the most prestigious trophy in Counter-Strike by the end of the day. We did try to warn you about karrigan.
It being a best-of-five, this opens with just one ban apiece, and Falcons have a genuine dilemma. FURIA's love affair with Inferno is no secret - but so is Falcons' refusal to touch Overpass, a map FURIA would happily pick up. They can only remove one. FURIA, meanwhile, will almost certainly do what they always do and bin Ancient, conveniently one of Falcons' favourite maps. From there, it's settled on the coin-flip maps in the middle.
It's the final act, and it’s genuinely difficult to make the call - the last two times we wrote Falcons off, well, you know what happened there. FURIA are the better story and, on paper, the better team; Falcons are simply the side that refuses to lose a decider right now. One of them lifts the trophy tomorrow. Pick your fairytale - we're done trying to guess.
