Falcons overcome Rebels to stay alive at IEM

The European side struggled versus the hometown heroes.

Falcons have managed to keep their campaign at IEM Katowice alive at the expense of local squad Rebels in a hotly-contested three-mapper.

This series, aside from deciding which side would be exiting the groups in last place, also shed light on the thought processes behind these two newly formed squads. Shortly after the win, Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer spoke on the desk about Falcons requiring more work before they hit their stride, citing a need for more firepower from the team's individuals.

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Conversely, Rebels IGL Rafał "⁠sNx⁠" Snopek shared his excitement regarding the squad's performances at Katowice. Although he stated that the team wanted more, sNx was satisfied with their showing and was excited for the future.

Rebels kicked the series off with a solid start to their T side on Vertigo, accruing four of the first five rounds thanks to a pistol round win. Despite the strong start to the half, Rebels were able to add only a single round to their tally on the remainder of their time on the offense, as Falcons rallied to claim a 7-5 lead.

Although Rebels got their hands on the second pistol round, Falcons would be the victors of the first gun round, denying the Poles the opportunity to build back into the match. The European side posted an impressive T side streak to conclude the half, briefly broken only by a heroic play from Mariusz "⁠casey⁠" Jarząb, allowing them to steal Rebels' pick 13-9.

Despite the strong ending to Vertigo, Falcons struggled to maintain their form to start things on their pick of Anubis. An early streak of rounds from Rebels was briefly halted by solid plays from Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif, but it did not take long for the Poles to return to winning ways, ultimately winning out the half with a solid 9-3 scoreline.

Rebels laid claim to yet another pistol round, but were denied the conversion by Snappi's men. Falcons used this as an opportunity to put up a streak of their own, but an outlandish performance from Alan "⁠flayy⁠" Krupa finally allowed Rebels to get over the line, snatching Anubis 13-9.

The decider of Nuke proved to be just as close as the previous two maps had been. Falcons kicked things off with a pistol-round win, their first of the series, to take an early 3-0 lead, capped off by a 1vs3 from Pavle "⁠Maden⁠" Bošković. The two sides spent the remainder of the half trading streaks of rounds, with Falcons eventually coming out as the winners of the half with a 7-5 lead.

Rebels' fifth pistol-round win was followed by yet another denied conversion, which allowed Falcons to breach double-digit rounds. A phenomenal 1vs3 from flayy kept the hopes of Rebels alive, but Snappi's men eventually regained their composure to finally close out the map 13-10.

While Rebels will be packing their bags following their narrow defeat, Falcons will need to be prepared to get back in the saddle ahead of their next elimination match, slated to be played February 5 against Complexity.

Date	Matches
IEM Katowice 2024
05/02/2024	Complexity 19:30 Falcons	Match