PGL Bucharest 2025Falcons edge past FaZe to reach PGL Bucharest final
degster sends his team to the grand final in Romania with another key performance in a close series.
Falcons are through to the grand final of PGL Bucharest 2025 following a hard-fought 2-1 victory over FaZe, who, just like in Cluj-Napoca, fell one game short of the tournament decider and will have to play the bronze match.
It was yet another Falcons victory decorated by an imperious display from AWPer Abdul "degster" Gasanov, who is making the most of the time he has left on the team amid reports that he will soon be replaced by Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov. He put up a series-high 1.30 rating after delivering a fantastic performance on the decider map of Mirage.
Despite the result, Falcons will certainly feel that this series was too close for comfort. They lost control of Ancient after going 11-5 up — showing once again a worrying tendency to switch off late in games—and Mirage could have gone a different way if it were not for a costly stinker from Helvijs "broky" Saukants, who went missing in the final moments of the game.
"There is a lot of noise since the first day we came here, and it maybe affected us in the first games, but then we just thought that we came here to play CS," Falcons captain Damjan "kyxsan" Stoilkovski told James "BanKs" Banks after the match.
"I'm happy that after we had a bad start we managed to bring back our A-game. I'm excited to play in the final again."
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| PGL Bucharest 2025 | ||
| 13/04/2025 |
17:00
|
Match |
A 2v4 clutch from broky and Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski in the first round of Nuke secured FaZe a winning start, but it wouldn't last as Falcons responded immediately.
That trend of non-consecutive rounds for FaZe continued throughout the half as Falcons enjoyed a commanding 8-4 lead with a dominant CT performance led by kyxsan and René "TeSeS" Madsen, who combined for 23 frags.
Falcons kept the momentum rolling into the second half and increased their lead with a flawless pistol round. Unable to assert their usual flair, FaZe couldn't get on the board on the CT side, with two of their players unable to find a single frag as the half ended after five rounds.
More misery was to come for FaZe, who couldn't get much going in the early stage of Ancient and only hit their stride towards the end of the first half, stringing three rounds together for an 8-4 score.
FaZe's comeback hopes took a major blow after the break as they wasted a 5v3 advantage in the pistol round, in which TeSeS pulled off a 1v2 clutch.
It seemed as though the game was heading to a swift conclusion as Falcons made it 11-5, but then, in true FaZe fashion, a comeback started to materialise. Finn "karrigan" Andersen's troops took control of proceedings and kicked into a higher gear as the score got closer, surviving two series points before closing out the game in overtime.
Falcons did not let that setback knock them off course and were in control for the majority of the first half of Mirage, where degster and Nikola "NiKo" Kovač led their team to an 8-4 lead with a combined 26 frags.
FaZe slowly chipped away at the deficit after the side switch and briefly took the lead after an unlikely 2v2 retake. But just when many thought that it was just another example of the FaZe magic coming to life, Falcons picked up the pace and swiftly put the game to bed.
Falcons reach second final in 2025
It would have been impossible to imagine a scenario where Falcons would be playing the grand final of PGL Bucharest after day two. They looked listless and out of sorts, posting only 14 rounds across the 0-2 losses to Complexity and GamerLegion.
And yet here they are, only one win away from securing the trophy after an incredible turnaround. The series against The MongolZ came down to the wire, but other than that, they have looked like the stronger team in every match they have won.
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| PGL Bucharest 2025 | ||
| 06/04/2025 |
Finished
0:2 |
Match |
| 07/04/2025 |
Finished
0:2 |
Match |
| 08/04/2025 |
Finished
2:1 |
Match |
| 09/04/2025 |
Finished
0:2 |
Match |
| 10/04/2025 |
Finished
2:1 |
Match |
| 11/04/2025 |
Finished
1:2 |
Match |
| 12/04/2025 |
Finished
2:1 |
Match |
Four months after the roster came together under difficult circumstances, Falcons look to be in a good position to lift their first LAN trophy. Sunday's final, against either G2 or Complexity, could be the perfect farewell for degster.
 Falcons |
K - D | Swing | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 61 - 32 | +5.06% | 73.4 | 78.6% | 1.30 | |
| 49 - 45 | +1.50% | 85.1 | 77.1% | 1.20 | |
| 53 - 50 | -1.40% | 81.6 | 68.6% | 1.16 | |
| 42 - 40 | +0.08% | 73.2 | 74.3% | 1.07 | |
| 43 - 47 | -1.51% | 74.0 | 70.0% | 0.97 |
 FaZe |
K - D | Swing | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48 - 47 | +2.07% | 85.7 | 72.9% | 1.10 | |
| 50 - 53 | +0.78% | 82.8 | 62.9% | 0.97 | |
| 41 - 54 | -1.56% | 71.5 | 61.4% | 0.86 | |
| 40 - 48 | -1.05% | 58.6 | 62.9% | 0.82 | |
| 31 - 47 | -4.07% | 49.2 | 65.7% | 0.70 |
Janusz 'Snax' Pogorzelski
Mario 'malbsMd' Samayoa
Nikita 'HeavyGod' Martynenko
Fredrik 'REZ' Sterner
Henrich 'sl3nd' Hevesi
Oldřich 'PR' Nový
Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou
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