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GUIDES
Simple Radar
© 2026 TLDR Media, All Rights Reserved.
Eight years later, NiKo and karrigan have their Major.
We never thought we’d see the day, but NiKo has won a Major.
I don’t play CS. I don’t even really watch it.
But.
For a first CS Major - or event for that matter - there hasn’t been a much better experience I’ve ever had.
Coming to Cologne, The Cathedral of Counter-Strike, I wasn’t too sure what to expect, after all, I have less than 100 hours on the game despite owning it for around 10 years.
However, after the opening ceremony all the way through to the Playoffs, I have been hooked. The atmosphere, the design, the stories, have all been immense; and seeing the Golden Hornets and Dezorganizada Furiosa in full flow is unlike anything I’ve ever seen or heard before. Add on to that the stories of NiKo and FalleN, and it would be enough to make anyone fall in love with the game.
A highlight of the Major has to have been every expectation everyone has mentioned being proved wrong: Vitality losing in their first match, donk sh-tting the bed, and karrigan actually being good - if I wasn’t confused enough going in to it this certainly didn’t help.
It has also been amusing to me watching fans freaking out over players in and around the arena and having little to no idea who they are, trying to figure out the player I had handed a magazine to after telling the rest of the guys that he had a player badge on, having conversations with the guy who organises the entire event, and watching fans flock to kennyS whilst I’m just stood there staring trying to see what the big deal was.
Oh, and handed a magazine to TeSeS right after he got his medal for winning the event was pretty f-cking cool, too.
Cologne as a city is equally impressive: the towering Cathedral, the bustling Bierhaus’, and a surprisingly good mix of restaurants and culture, with favourite being a Vietnamese restaurant named Bonjour Saigon - the crispy fried duck is unreal. Combine all of these and throw in 33 degree heat every day, and it’s just about enough to get through the gruelling labour of handing out magazines.
Despite the heat and the back pain handing out magazines all around the arena, getting them into the hands of players, presidents of fan clubs and sponsors of the event has given me an appreciation I perhaps never thought I would have for Counter Strike, the emotion inside the LANXESS, the energy when magixx clutched with a 4k on mirage, I never thought I’d be cheering and screaming at a game I have such little experience in.
So, if I get the opportunity to attend again, either as a fan or as a part tl;dr, I would jump on it in a heartbeat.
I now see why everyone says it’s the best esport in the world, and it was an absolute honour to be a part of it.
Words byMull
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
Q: First of all, congratulations on winning the major. How does it feel to be on the team that gives NiKo his first major?
A: To be honest, it was part of my goal working with him. I always said it. I remember back just before I joined Vitality, I had signed with Vitality and we started talking a bit about working together. I said, “Now is not the time because I already signed the contract, but let's see in the future.”
So it's always been my goal because it's been such a big topic. To challenge myself, hopefully I can be — and let's be honest, a small part — in him getting a major, because he deserves everything himself. He has been so phenomenal this tournament, both mentally, but also as a leader, stats-wise, everything. He has just been a different character, to be honest.
Q: Your road to the final was pretty tough, with teams like Spirit and Vitality. Does that make this win feel extra special?
A: Yeah, of course. I mean, now also being part of a major journey where people started criticizing us because we didn't have a tough road to the grand final, I think it couldn't have been written better, this journey that we have been on.
Changing the IGL in the middle of the season, losing two finals — one where we had absolutely nothing to do against Spirit, and then one where we sat with the feeling that, “Hey, this was our game to win.” The last tournament we won before this one was PGL Bucharest one year ago, and now we won the major.
And in that fashion that we did, beating Na'Vi, who had been hot just before the major, then Vitality, Spirit, and then FURIA. I mean, this is the top of the top. And then to win the major in that fashion, I'm just super proud and also relieved that we actually had a final where it didn't go the full distance with overtimes and whatnot.
Q: If you had asked anyone two months ago who would win the major, nobody would have said Falcons. What did karrigan bring that other IGLs couldn't?
A: Leadership. Leadership first and foremost.
We knew getting Finn that obviously it's not going to be on the server. Stats-wise, he's not going to bring anything. But what he doesn't have on aim and all of that, he brings as a leader. I think you can also see throughout this tournament that both René and Maxim, TeSeS, and kyousuke have been playing outstanding throughout the tournament.
He brings a direction. It's tough as a coach. Of course, we need more time and we need to work on certain stuff. But at the end of the day, it's the five players who have to make it work. It's just good that they have a leader who is so present and so aware of all the pieces that he has.
But also credit to the players. Leadership — you need to have followership as well. And they are buying into everything he's saying, and that's good.
Q: You might disagree with this because of your Astralis past and working with gla1ve, but do you think this major win cements karrigan's legacy as the greatest IGL of all time?
A: I mean, there's no doubt that I've worked with very good IGLs: apEX from Vitality, karrigan first in Astralis and now here in Falcons, and also gla1ve. I think it's different. It's how you see it. Maybe at the end of my career I will come with my point of view.
But the redemption that he has done here, I mean, it definitely puts him all the way up there, I think.
Q: Everybody has been talking about this adjustment period for this new lineup. Do you think you're reaching the end of this period?
A: Adjustment period, you're talking about integrating? No, I think we're far off, to be honest.
I think you've also seen on the map pool, we didn't really know about our map pool. After the bootcamp, I've evaluated with Eamon(?) and Finn — my assistant coach and Finn — and I was like, “I think our Anubis, there is something with our Anubis.” We talked about that. This has not been bad, looking through the stats and how we were playing and some of the things that we have. It was just, we have to go for it.
Because, yeah, we knew it was going to be tough in the best of five, map-pool-wise. So I was just happy to see that mentally we were there. And then, when you reach that far, it's not necessarily about the maps.
But in terms of what you're asking, we definitely need more time still.
Q: Thank you very much. Congratulations again.
A: Thank you so much.
Interview by napz, transcribed by Incipiens
