Falcons finished their huge rebuild by raiding ENCE’s cabinet for Sunpayus and Maden. Additionally, they formally announced that they’ve signed Magisk, who will rejoin head coach Zonic on yet another team. With Snappi and BOROS, they now have a full five-man roster for their first CS2 campaign.
The acquisition of the vast majority of ENCE’s roster not only means Falcons have a core that won an IEM Dallas trophy in 2023, they’ll have a direct invite to PGL’s Copenhagen Major. The Copenhagen Major, set to begin in March, will be CS2’s first Major.
While Falcons have built something solid, rumors surrounding the team’s construction suggested the Saudi Arabia-based team were building something more powerful. They were linked to m0NESY and NiKo from G2, and Canadian star Twistzz turned them down to return to Team Liquid. “Because if it was about the money then… obviously, if I wanted the bag and I didn’t care about my career, then I would go to Falcons. But I do care about my career. I have morals and it’s not about the money,” Twistzz said in an interview with Pley. What could’ve been will always be a question that surrounds this team, no matter where they place in tournaments.
With all the rumors in mind, this end result has to be disappointing for Falcons fans. Their organization was suggested to be making a team that could immediately compete for trophies in 2024, and now they’ll have to settle for the core that won an IEM and almost a Gamers8. The ex-ENCE players aren’t slouches, but there’s also the other additions to consider: Is Magisk really still at a championship level, and is BOROS ready to compete at another level?
Time will tell whether Falcons’ failure to secure the team they initially wanted will mean failure in the server, or if the ex-ENCE players can do what they’ve done for most of their careers—punch above their weight with the superstars of CS.
