Falcons win – Falcons ended a frenetic IEM Cologne playoff run by beating FURIA 3-0 in the grand final, turning key moments on Mirage, Anubis, and Inferno into a decisive championship march. For NiKo it was a first Major title; for karrigan it was a second, while coach zoni
When the grand final clock kept moving and overtime stories kept stacking up in the playoffs, Falcons arrived with one mindset: no more surviving by luck. They didn’t force a comeback. They controlled the pace.
In the final. Falcons faced FURIA in a best-of-five that ended the way the early maps promised it would—entirely in Falcons’ favor—despite the way their own playoff outings had been anything but easy. One storyline sat underneath the match like a ticking clock: Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo versus Nikola “NiKo” Kovač. FalleN had won the last Major in the German city of Cologne. while NiKo. often framed as the elite player who never quite got the Major. carried the weight of being the best CS player to have never won a Major Championship.
There was more fuel, too. At IEM Rio. FalleN announced that he would be retiring at the end of the year. giving him two more chances to add to his two Major titles. For NiKo and teammate Finn “karrigan” Andersen, the stakes were different but equally personal. karrigan had already won a Major with FaZe in 2022. but NiKo fell short in a final once again in 2021 with G2—and together. they were looking to make amends for the moment they crumbled versus Cloud9 at ELEAGUE Boston 2018 while with FaZe.
FURIA had the first pick in the best-of-five and chose Mirage. Falcons started fast on the CT side, sprinting to an 8-0 lead. FURIA closed the gap to four rounds, but that was as close as they would get. Falcons took the first map 13-8, with AWPer Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov posting the map-high 19 frags.
Earlier in the tournament, karrigan had joked in an interview with HLTV that it felt like Falcons were “playing MR15 at this playoffs so far,” referencing the amount of overtimes they had played on LANXESS. On Mirage, they ensured it wouldn’t matter.
Anubis was the next chapter—and Falcons made it feel like home. They entered the Major final with Anubis as their home map, having won it in their past three matches. It still looked like a must-win moment for FURIA. but Falcons again started hot on the less-favored CT side. racing to a 4-0 lead. FURIA found an answer and pulled slightly ahead 7-5 at the end of the half.
Then came the side where Falcons hit their stride. karrigan, the veteran caller, was the piece that shaped how the rest of the match played out. The Dane unlocked the Russian duo of m0NESY and Maksim “kyousuke” Lukin. They were the only ones to post double-digit frags in the second half. and Falcons surrendered just one round to win Anubis 13-8.
With their backs against the wall, FURIA chose Inferno as the third map. It was also FURIA’s second choice in the series. FURIA managed to win a pistol round, but were immediately humbled by a Falcons force buy and a sneaky double from René “TeSeS” Madsen. FURIA fought back from 3-1 to 3-3.
When they finally had a chance to take the lead. they couldn’t cash it in—stonewalled by a “ridiculous” USP triple kill from karrigan in a round where only saved weapons were available. Momentum swung hard. Falcons built an 8-4 lead at the half. with karrigan putting together one of his best halves of the season at 12-8.
Falcons found their fifth pistol round of the match. and FURIA’s comeback attempt ran into the same kind of punishment: FURIA won the second-round force buy this time. but they still couldn’t find the first footing they needed on the scoreboard. The first gun round went Falcons’ way, leaving FURIA with little room for error at 10-7 down.
Traded rounds favored the leading Falcons. An eleventh round arrived via a force buy and a lethal opening from kyousuke. At 12-8 down, FURIA’s last hope was a scuffed buy. NiKo opened the round by headshotting FalleN at bottom banana. That single moment flipped the direction of the map—Falcons exploded into A, and FURIA couldn’t stop the assault.
NiKo and karrigan didn’t just win this match. They sealed it, exorcising the Boston 2018 ghosts in the cleanest way possible. With the final pistol falling the way it had to for a Major run, Falcons are your IEM Cologne Major Champions.
For Falcons. this is the first Major Championship for NiKo. m0NESY. kyousuke. and TeSeS. while it is karrigan’s second Major win. karrigan also joins Dan “apEX” Madesclaire. Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy. Robin “ropz” Kool. and Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut as the only players to win a Major in both CS:GO and CS2.
The trophy history keeps widening. This is coach Danny “zonic” Sørensen’s sixth Major title, with four won while with Astralis and one each with Vitality and Falcons.
IEM Cologne Major Falcons FURIA NiKo karrigan m0NESY FalleN TeSeS kyousuke zonic CS2 CS:GO