Falcons beat Legacy 2-1 at BLAST Open Porto to become the fourth team into the playoffs, a result that also locked in a top-six finish at the event.
It reversed a recent pattern. HLTV noted Falcons had lost both of their previous meetings with the Brazilian side — the CAC grand final, and a match at the Esports World Cup the week before — and that Vitality were waiting in the lower bracket for whoever lost this one, which added a further dose of pressure. The win also answered questions raised by the Major champions’ rusty performance against Lynn Vision the day before.
The two 13-6 scorelines flattered Falcons, HLTV wrote, given how close the maps were early on. What separated the teams was the late rounds, where the big moments went Falcons’ way.
The Dust2 decider
Down 4-1 on Dust2 and having just lost a 5v3, Falcons took a timeout from coach Danny “zonic” Sørensen, who told the team to “reset”. Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov stayed in top form from there and was joined by Maksim “kyousuke” Lukin, who had finished the second map on a 6-20 K-D and answered with a 2.03 rating on the third. Legacy won just two more rounds in the series.
It was m0NESY who ended the map, extinguishing Legacy with a 1v3 clutch.
I just took an aggressive duel against him. I didn’t want to respect.
Falcons were also helped by an off day from Santino “try” Rigal, the AWPer behind much of Legacy’s recent resurgence in form. Earlier lapses on the Falcons side — they lost a 5v2 on the opening map as well — did not cost them the series.