kyxsan: "There are still so many things we need to implement with m0NESY"

Falcons' captain stressed that the team has more work to do even after skipping PGL Astana.

Falcons have hardly had any time to breathe after the addition of superstar AWPer Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov, diving straight into IEM Melbourne and BLAST Rivals with minimal time to practice with their new player.

After the conclusion of BLAST Rivals, the international side finally got some time to begin integrating m0NESY into the lineup. In their first event since their brief break, Falcons have bagged an appearance in the semi-finals after besting GamerLegion in a tight quarter-final series.

Date	Matches
IEM Dallas 2025
24/05/2025	Vitality 23:15 Falcons	Match
19/05/2025	Falcons Finished 2:0 NRG	Match
20/05/2025	Falcons Finished 2:1 HEROIC	Match
21/05/2025	MOUZ Finished 2:0 Falcons	Match
23/05/2025	Falcons Finished 2:1 GamerLegion	Match

Shortly after his team's victory over GamerLegion, Falcons' in-game leader Damjan "⁠kyxsan⁠" Stoilkovski spoke about the close quarter-final matchup, the process of integrating m0NESY into the lineup, and Falcons' plans to stay in the United States ahead of the BLAST.tv Austin Major.

---

Here with kyxsan after Falcons got a hard-fought win over GamerLegion. You're headed to the semifinals, how are you feeling?

I'm feeling relieved, because it felt like a really close game. We lost some rounds that we usually don't lose, so it was a game where we could have gotten easily tilted and started playing a bit differently. But I feel like we managed all of this well, and I'm really happy that we won.

Why do you think that game was so close, especially since they have a stand-in?

We lost a lot of anti-ecos on Nuke, and then on Inferno, it happened again when we lost a 5v3. There were just some annoying rounds that we lost, and maybe that's why I feel like the game was closer even though if you look at the scores it doesn't look that close.

But you're pleased with how the team was able to hold it together?

Of course. I'm happy that even in these hard situations we manage to come on top.

One thing I am curious about that may have contributed to the difficulty of the game is that NiKo has had an uncharacteristically poor event. Is that something the team is aware of and trying to work on?

I don't think we are thinking too much about that. I think he is aware that this is not his level, and he's been working a lot during this event to get better, to get back to his old form. But it's not something that we are talking or thinking about too much because we know how good he is. At some point, he will definitely show up.

Your last game in the group stage against MOUZ, and generally, you've had a good record against them since adding m0NESY but that ended up being a rough game. What was different about that game in particular?

It's hard to say. I just think our mentality was not the best during that game. We got a little bit frustrated because of some rounds that we lost. I mean, they also played well; we didn't play even close to our level. Obviously, when you don't play your game against a team like MOUZ, they will punish you and win 2-0.

You guys were the crowd favorites in this game, and you have reigning Dallas champs NiKo and m0NESY on your team. Is there added pressure at this event because of that?

I don't think there's pressure, I think it's just a good thing for us to have the crowd with us. We're trying to take this as a good thing, and I think this favors us a lot in the games.

You're up against Vitality next. How are you feeling about the matchup?

We've played them a lot recently, and we already know how they are playing, and they know how we are playing, so it's going to be a lot of mind games. The biggest difference is that now it's best-of-three, which might favor us a little bit because they have been playing together with this lineup longer than we have with m0NESY. I think it's going to be a good game again, and hopefully this time we come out on top.

You don't feel like you guys are at that max level with m0NESY yet?

I don't think we're at the max level because... obviously we had five or six days of practice before this event, so it's much better than it was at Melbourne or BLAST, but I feel like there are still so many things that we need to implement in our system with m0NESY.

There are still some strats where I have to remind him what he needs to throw, what he needs to do, and I'm not blaming him because he joins the team and after two days we have an event in Melbourne so there's no time to go through the whole playbook. I think we're improving day by day, and also these days here in Dallas we're using to improve as much as we can.

You guys are starting in Stage 2 of the Major. You're in the United States right now, so is the plan to stick around or go back to Europe?

The plan is to stay in Dallas and have a bootcamp here. We are most likely just staying here, playing some practice against NA teams and teams who are staying from the first stage; there are a few teams that will stay, as far as I know. I think we're just staying here and bootcamping before the Major.