Falcons secure first-ever Big Event final with statement victory over FaZe

The Saudi organization will face MOUZ in Cluj-Napoca for a chance to lift its first trophy in Counter-Strike.

Falcons are through to the organization's first-ever Big Event grand final after a statement 2-0 victory over FaZe in the semis of PGL Cluj-Napoca.

They will face MOUZ in a best-of-five grand final for the trophy and $400,000 top prize on Sunday at 17:00 , with FaZe and Astralis facing off in a third-place decider just before.

Date	Matches
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025
23/02/2025	Astralis 14:00 FaZe	Match
23/02/2025	MOUZ 18:50 Falcons	Match

Despite letting slip some sloppy rounds early on both maps, Damjan "⁠kyxsan⁠" Stoilkovski's side was by far the better team across the series and looked well-prepared for FaZe's T sides, recovering from a 7-10 deficit on Dust2 and storming to a dominant 13-6 victory on Ancient to roars of support from the Romanian crowd.

Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač was unrelenting on Dust2 to kick off the series, combining with Abdul "⁠degster⁠" Gasanov's openings to spearhead a 6-2 start.

FaZe came alive late and won the second pistol and first gun round off the back of a quad kill from Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen, but were stopped dead in their tracks by excellent site holds from Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif, NiKo, and degster as Falcons clawed back from 7-10 down to edge out victory.

degster continued to shine on Ancient, where a dismal T side from FaZe and sloppy mid-rounds were punished by the sniper and by excellence from kyxsan in Cave.

degster delivers again after nearly being moved to tears by crowd support

NiKo had made the Saudi-backed organization a rare crowd favorite in the quarter-finals, and his addition to the team has paid off just three events into the season for Falcons' best result since entering Counter-Strike.

degster has also leveled up since the Bosnian's addition and has enjoyed playing up to the crowd in Romania, thanking them for their support after the game.

"First of all guys, I love you," an overjoyed degster said in a post-match interview. "Thank you so much for your support, you're an amazing crowd.

"We didn't expect that you were going to cheer for us but it's so nice, it's the first time ever in my life that someone is cheering for me from the crowd. I've always adapted to play against it."

NiKo the mentor

The Russian sniper also gave thanks to his team and NiKo, whom he has looked up to and his hoping to learn from in Falcons.

"It means a lot to me," degster said of sitting next to NiKo and getting his support.

"When he joined and I started to talk with him, I invited him to talk with me, and I told him, 'I would really like to learn something from you because you were always an idol to me.'

When I was not even a pro I was watching him, and for me it means a lot when he supports or helps me, or gives me trust. I always say that to him."

karrigan: "There are still some growing pains within the structure of the team"

FaZe were favorites for the title in Cluj, particularly after The MongolZ's elimination, but still need time to adjust to new roles within the team with Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski.

That was apparent in many of the mid-round scenarios where FaZe looked a shadow of themselves and couldn't thrive in the kind of chaos they usually do, something they managed more earlier in the tournament but couldn't get going against Falcons.

karrigan said FaZe played scared on Dust2 and punished themselves with costly decisions, whereas on Ancient they couldn't play their game at all.

"Maybe some of the scenarios we were playing strange, some of the mid-rounds we had this time we didn't get the last few times, so there's still some growing pains within the structure of the team," he said.

"We were not in control, all the Ancient games we've played we've been really in control and really in the game, but today it was harder against them. I don't know if it's the team that also dropped overall as a team, individually and communication-wise, and that's why I'm disappointed that we didn't show our game on Ancient."

He also touched on takeaways from the event and whether FaZe would revisit their roles after this result, saying it is too soon to make any big changes and that more time is needed together.

"Not bigger picture, no, small details, micro stuff," karrigan said of what he would have to look back at. "We still have to believe. We played really good in four games here, we beat MOUZ and Eternal Fire in the group stage.

"Right now we were group stage heroes. I want to be playoff heroes again and it is what it is. There are still growing pains for us, it's our second LAN, our second arena game together in new roles and as a new team. In the end we just didn't show up today and congrats to Falcons, they took advantage of it."