Falcons secure playoffs as FaZe continue to spiral

Falcons recovered from several disadvantages, including a pivotal 2v5 down 9-10 on Ancient, to close the series in two.

Falcons didn't lose momentum from their finals run in Melbourne and have secured a playoff berth at BLAST Rivals Season 1, besting FaZe in a two-map series in their opening game.

"We're a bit tired and I don't think it was the best game from us," Damjan "⁠kyxsan⁠" Stoilkovski admitted in a post-match interview on the desk, "but I'm really happy that we managed to win it in the end."

Although not as dominant in their opener as Vitality, Falcons showed that they don't need their A game to push past lower-ranked opposition in Denmark. They have a more difficult test in Spirit ahead as the teams clash for a bye to the semi-finals, whereas FaZe have their backs against the wall and will face FlyQuest for a spot in the playoffs.

Date	Matches
BLAST Rivals 2025 Season 1
01/05/2025	FlyQuest 17:45 FaZe	Match
01/05/2025	Spirit 21:10 Falcons	Match

FaZe disconnected

FaZe's shaky level since adding Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski continued in Denmark with the team looking disconnected for much of Dust2, taking little initiative to gather information on the CT side and letting Falcons dictate the pace for a 6-2 lead.

By the time FaZe started adjusting, they were well behind. Closing the gap to two rounds at the break did little to stem the bleed, and the nail was put into the coffin as they squandered their pistol victory to a force-buy and allowed Falcons to storm to victory off the back of a 1.65-rated map from Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov.

Falcons led early doors again on Ancient, going up 4-0 off a handful of Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač multi-kills, but FaZe started finding their footing with Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard and Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen providing a few entries.

It was even-keel at halftime, and though a quad-kill from NiKo net Falcons the pistol and conversion, FaZe seemed set to send the series to a decider as EliGE and karrigan helped them string together four rounds for a 10-8 lead.

That was when the wheels came off the wagon.

Falcons cracked through with Tec-9s to get a surprise round back, but even that could have been forgiven if not for what followed. FaZe went up 5v2 in the next round, seemingly unshaken from the loss and almost assuredly set to close the map, but collapsed entirely as René "⁠TeSeS⁠" Madsen and m0NESY fought back and won Falcons the round.

That blow proved too much to recover from, and the same pair added additional multi-kills as Falcons romped to victory over a desolate FaZe.