Fresh off their decisive 2-0 semifinal victory over MOUZ, TeSeS from Team Falcons joined us in the press room to share his immediate reactions. We discussed the flow of the match, the team’s growing synergy, and their preferred opponent for the grand final.
It was a swift semifinal for Falcons here at IEM Melbourne, with a dominant 13-3 victory on Dust II followed by a 13-6 series-clinching win on Nuke, sending MOUZ home in 3rd/4th place. We asked TeSeS for his initial thoughts on the game and their immediate plans after the interview.
“It’s crazy, doing a substitute a couple of days before the event and making it to the final, I’ve not tried that one before. So proud of the team and how fast we are clicking. I can only imagine in the future with more practice and getting more on the same page, how we can look like.”
“I can feel that the team has a lot of confidence, everyone believes, and everyone is lifting it up together. We know that we can make it far in every tournament and we know we can be really good. That’s what we’re fighting for right now and moving forward to the major is where our main goal is. Until that point we’re just trying to build as much confidence and build on our strat book.”
“We are gonna keep our routines and get some rest. We have a little bit of an advantage, our game was done earlier than the other semi-final. We can watch the game and take notes, do the prep tomorrow, and just be like we always are.”
The second semifinal will feature Team Vitality, whom we recently interviewed apEX from and who are aiming to complete their ESL Grand Slam, against the underdog squad, The MongolZ. Ahead of that match later this afternoon, we asked TeSeS which team they would prefer to face in the Grand Final.
“The dream is to get Vitality and beat them to deny a Grand Slam. That would be crazy and that would be nice for us. I actually said to the boys that I feel like there’s something crazy happening in this semifinal and they actually will choke it. But let’s see.”
“It’s not because of the money. It’s more about being the ones that actually break the win streak and being the ones to take them down finally. Doing it in the final is huge, it creates this little bit of storyline for us.”
Reflecting on their journey to the Grand Final, Falcons have had a strong run with 2-0 victories against SAW and MOUZ, and a 2-1 win over Natus Vincere. We were curious about their expectations coming into the tournament and whether they anticipated such a successful run, as well as how they plan to maintain focus with more tournaments on the horizon.
“We were expecting that we were gonna get better as a team and technical wise we’re gonna get a lot better. To be honest, we didn’t expect to click so fast and it to go as smoothly as it has done. It’s on another level right now and we have to find some way of keeping it up.”
“It’s tournament after tournament and your only focus is here now and that’s what we’re doing. Living in the moment, as all the greats say, that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Finally, considering Team Falcons‘ significant investment in building a formidable roster, we asked TeSeS for his assessment of their current players and if there are any other players he would be particularly keen to play alongside in the future.
“NiKo and m0NESY are the top of the top right now and playing with those two as as a partnership is crazy. When you have those two, you just need surrounding players that are willing to sacrifice for them and play good for them and be there when they need it.”
“You don’t need five superstars to have the best team in the world and I don’t believe that’s the way to go.”
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