Falcons to Bucharest semis over GamerLegion

Falcons took revenge in a rematch from a disastrous group stage encounter against GamerLegion to reach the top four.

Falcons have clinched the first spot in the PGL Bucharest semi-finals following a 2-1 win over GamerLegion.

In a rematch from the two teams' group stage encounter, which went GamerLegion's way in dominant fashion, Falcons' attempt to put their opponents outside of their comfort zone with a Train pick didn't work out, but they came back with convincing wins on Inferno and Ancient to lock down the series.

A quiet NiKo not a problem

Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač got off to a slow start to the series on Train as Falcons went down on an opening map that was closer than the 13-7 scoreline suggested.

With the Bosnian star missing, Falcons couldn't convert advantages time and time again, to a Sebastian "⁠Tauson⁠" Tauson Lindelof 1v2 in the pistol, a last-second bomb plant denial from Henrich "⁠sl3nd⁠" Hevesi a few rounds later, and in two fumbles in crucial rounds 9 and 15.

Clip: moses calls the throw

The Bosnian recovered on Inferno and Ancient, but he was still taking a backseat in what turned out to be convincing wins on the second and third map.

Damjan "⁠kyxsan⁠" Stoilkovski and René "⁠TeSeS⁠" Madsen ended up with the brunt of the big-impact plays, the former in back-to-back rounds defending the B bombsite on Inferno to turn the first half into a landslide, while the latter ended up on top of the board after finding several big double-entries and this crucial quad-kill in a 3v5 situation on Ancient.

Clip: TeSeS 4K turns the 3v5

Falcons on course to another PGL final

This Falcons squad may be a dead team walking, but they've continued their recovery from a 0-2 start to the Swiss group stage and now look like a favorite to reach the grand final from their side, with a struggling FaZe and a 3DMAX team playing their first playoffs game of the year on the same end.

The fact that they won the first series somewhat handily without big performances from NiKo, who had been a crucial cog in their group stage comeback, is a good sign for Falcons moving forward as they hope to repeat their PGL Cluj-Napoca run to the title decider.