Metizport eliminate Falcons in s1mple CS2 debut

The Swedish underdogs dealt Falcons another big blow, eliminating them early from the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown.

Metizport have eliminated Falcons in joint-last place of the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown after a 2-1 victory in the opening round of the single elimination bracket.

The Swedes pulled off a massive upset as they spoiled their opponent's debut with Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev, who had joined Falcons on loan for the Spring Final qualifier to take the place of Mohammad "⁠BOROS⁠" Malhas.

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The match also marked the Ukrainian superstar's first official appearance in Counter-Strike 2 after he opted to take a break from competition late last year. His return left much to be desired, as he ended the series with a 0.94 rating and went missing on the deciding Vertigo — a map s1mple only played for the second time ever in a serious match.

The loss comes as another massive blow to Falcons. They missed out on a place at PGL Major Copenhagen last month with a 1-3 run at the first European RMR despite a promising run to the IEM Katowice semi-finals just a week earlier.

It's not clear what is next for the Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer-led side and whether there's any future with s1mple after the Ukrainian only joined the team on a one-month loan on February 19. In a post-match Tweet, the in-game leader only apologized for the performance, saying it's "not good enough" and that he's "working the best [he] can to fix [his] own level and the team."

For Metizport, this marks the Swedish team's biggest-ever win and a continuation of an impressive campaign on the qualifying road to the BLAST Premier Spring Final, where they previously beat FURIA twice to make it to the Showdown.

They recovered from an opening loss on their own pick, Mirage, to massacre Falcons on Overpass — by Erik "⁠ztr⁠" Gustafsson's own words Metizport's worst map. Linus "⁠nilo⁠" Bergman was crucial in the confidence-boosting win on the second map, putting up 22 kills and a 2.10 rating to send the series to Vertigo.

"The whole Mirage you could feel we were all super nervous and it was super contagious," ztr said after the match. "After that we just said, 'We need to focus the fuck up, drop the nerves and play like yourselves.' nilo really showed what he's capable of."

On the decider, it was more of a team performance that earned the Swedes the series victory. At the end, though, ztr's crucial three triples and a spot-on call to stack the B bombsite in a 4v5 in the 19th round made the difference against a Falcons side that relied on several clutches to stay alive in the game.