Falcons eliminated from Austin after disastrous Stage 2

Just weeks after challenging Vitality for trophies, Falcons are out of the Major in 20th-22nd place.

Falcons have been eliminated from the BLAST.tv Austin Major after a failed comeback attempt in an Inferno decider triple overtime loss to MIBR brought an end to their disastrous campaign in Stage 2.

Alarm bells were ringing on day one already, when the team that most saw as by far the biggest favorites of the second stage got off to a 0-2 start in the best-of-one rounds in defeats to B8 and Lynn Vision.

Their first elimination match against OG offered little encouragement, as Falcons barely squeezed past another underdog after being three rounds away from a 0-3 exit, and they couldn't recover by day three despite a promising start to the MIBR series.

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 Stage 2
07/06/2025	Falcons Finished 8:13 B8	Match
07/06/2025	Falcons Finished 9:13 Lynn Vision	Match
08/06/2025	OG Finished 1:2 Falcons	Match
09/06/2025	Falcons Finished 1:2 MIBR	Match

Falcons led the series after winning Ancient with relative ease, with Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov looking improved from the horrid day one, spearheading a 10-1 run on the map, interrupted only by a fumbled anti-eco.

But it all fell apart from there. MIBR kept winning clutch after clutch on Nuke with Falcons trying and failing to recover several disadvantageous situations.

They only ended up with two rounds on the T side and went on to lose another clutch to Raphael "⁠exit⁠" Lacerda's fadeaway shot in a 1v2 in the pistol, ultimately falling short after a failed effort to come back from the daunting deficit.

It all came down to a barn-burner of an Inferno decider, where Falcons went from a 4-10 deficit to forcing overtime all the while Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač struggled to make his mark throughout the map.

The favorites then had every opportunity to complete the comeback, but a disastrous 5v3 afterplant situation at match point in second overtime allowed MIBR one more chance, and another similar advantage thrown a few rounds later enabled the Brazilians to secure triple overtime and the victory.

A disastrous ending for one of the tournament favorites

From the start of the Austin Major, all the talk about pre-tournament favorites revolved around four teams: the indomitable Vitality, and behind them Spirit, MOUZ, and Falcons.

Off of the signing of m0NESY the team instantly became a title contender and got closest to taking Vitality off the throne, a clear sign that an Austin Major dream was possible despite the short timeline, but Falcons didn't even end up reaching the same stage as the other world's elite.

"Very disappointed. We didn't expect something like this to happen, and obviously we didn't play out best game and that's the reason we didn't qualify for the next stage," kyxsan said in reaction to Falcons' elimination on BLAST's broadcast.

"This event we just played a bit differently, maybe because of the pressure, maybe because of the high expectations, but definitely we didn't play anywhere close to our usual level," the captain went on.

With rumors of a potential Maxim "⁠kyousuke⁠" Lukin signing following the Major already in the air, it may very well be that this is the last time this iteration of Falcons took to the server. "I cannot say anything right now, I guess there should be some news soon," kyxsan said.

More highlights from Falcons vs. MIBR

• saffee denies Falcons' scary eco

• Falcons fumble an anti-eco, but respond with a 3v5

• brnz4n sticks it to complete a sneaky 1v3

• exit's fadeaway headshot wins the 1v2 from beyond the grave

• Falcons breathe a huge sigh of relief after MIBR bamboozle them

• insani 1v3s Falcons

• saffee backstab whiff enables Falcons 2v3

• NiKo struggling to cope as Falcons force OT

• NiKo gets his second multi-kill of the map in OT2

• MIBR turn another 3v5 for two match points