Falcons squeeze past GamerLegion to set up Vitality rematch

kyxsan's troops will again take on the world No.1, this time in the semi-finals.

Falcons have locked up a spot in the semi-final stage of IEM Dallas 2025 after a hard-fought victory against GamerLegion in the first round of the playoffs.

In a rematch of the IEM Melbourne quarter-finals a month earlier, GamerLegion acquitted themselves much better this time around, showing no stage fright as they pushed Falcons to all three maps in a competitive and entertaining series.

The match was closer than many expected, confirming the notion that Falcons have hit a bit of a wall after their first tournaments with Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov. "I feel like we're not playing the best," Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač said after the match. "I think we were a big better in Copenhagen and even in Melbourne."

The win puts Falcons on a collision course with Vitality, whom they recently lost to in back-to-back grand finals. The recent head-to-head might be one-sided, but NiKo pointed out that Vitality have had struggles of their own in this tournament.

Date	Matches
IEM Dallas 2025
24/05/2025	Vitality 23:15 Falcons	Match

"They've also seemed a bit shaky at this event," he said. "They maybe could have dropped a match against The MongolZ. We're going to give it our all. I think it helps that it's a BO3 and not a BO5. That's a different story. It's not a final, it's a semi-final. Maybe I'll play better. It's going to be an exciting match. We want to take the W."

Falcons came out a bit rusty on Ancient and ceded control to GamerLegion, who happily carved out a 6-3 lead. Things were starting to look bleak for the IEM Melbourne runners-up, but then m0NESY pulled a Desert Eagle 3K out of the hat in a round his team had no business winning.

That round breathed new life into Falcons' squad, with NiKo and Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif following it up with 3Ks in the final two rounds of the half. All of a sudden, the score was tied, and Falcons carried that momentum into the second half, putting GamerLegion against the ropes from the start and never letting them get a foothold on the defense.

The Russian AWPer again came to the team's rescue only a few rounds into Nuke, when he pulled off a vital 1v2 clutch that left GamerLegion strapped for cash. m0NESY finished the half with 14 frags — twice as many as his closest teammate—helping counter GamerLegion's dynamic defense and powering his team to a 6-6 half.

In the second half, Falcons lost their way as the game descended into chaos. There were highlight moments from Damjan "⁠kyxsan⁠" Stoilkovski and René "⁠TeSeS⁠" Madsen, but Falcons looked surprisingly vulnerable on the defense. GamerLegion, meanwhile, showed incredible composure on stage and dominated the half, with Oldřich "⁠PR⁠" Nový leading the charge with 12 frags and a 131 ADR on the T side.

NiKo looked determined to make up for a stinker of a performance on Nuke. He opened up Inferno with a 3K in banana and racked up 11 frags as Falcons picked up a 7-3 lead before GamerLegion brought the deficit down to two rounds with back-to-back 2v2 successes on the A site.

Falcons came out aggressively after the break and quickly hit double-digit territory, much to GamerLegion's despair. Erik "⁠ztr⁠" Gustafsson still made it competitive after some close rounds, but Falcons refused to let up and put the game past their opponents.