Team Falcons pulled off one of the greatest flops in Counter-Strike esports history when it bombed out of the BLAST Austin Major’s second group stage, but can it recover in IEM Cologne against The MongolZ?
| Match | IEM Cologne 2025 Group Stage |
|---|---|
| Kick-off | July 26, 2025 at 8 am ET |
| Top pick | Maps end in under 19.5 rounds |
| Best price | GG.BET live odds |
| Betting favorite | Team Falcons |
There’s been a lot of discourse and schadenfreude directed at Team Falcons’ inability to find success. Despite a constant churn of splashy signings, the team hasn’t been able to find any kind of sustained success. It made another roster changes after that Austin Major catastrophe, but can you bet on Team Falcons’ new roster performing in IEM Cologne?
Betting tip: Team Falcons looked very good in its first match back since the major, which is bad news for The MongolZ.
My The MongolZ vs Team Falcons pick: Maps end in under 19.5 rounds (3.33 at GG.BET)
Team Falcons pulled off one of the most shocking disappointments in Counter-Strike esports history at the BLAST Austin Major. Despite being one of the top contenders to win, despite having a star-studded roster, and despite placing in the top four of its four previous tournaments, the team was eliminated from the major with a 1-3 record. Even worse, that record came in the second group stage, before most of the scene’s top squads even entered the pool.
News broke that rising star Maksim “kyousuke” Lukin was set to join the roster well ahead of the major starting, but the team’s major flop removed any doubt about whether the organization would commit. Kyousuke made his official debut in IEM Cologne and Falcons looks like a completely different team with him.
TheMongolz vs 3DMAX – HIGHLIGHTS – IEM Cologne 2025 | CS2
Falcons enjoyed a surge in success after the addition of Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov. Instead of being a team built around teamwork and execution, it recalibrated to facilitate m0NESY getting absurd kill counts. That strategy worked brilliantly, until the Austin Major.
kyousuke has seemingly brought things back to that pre-m0NESY approach. In his first match, the full Falcons roster shined including Nikola “NiKo” Kovač, whose performance dipped significantly after m0NESY joined.
While it was just one match, the idea of a Team Falcons where all three of its star players have the chance to shine is downright terrifying. While The MongolZ is a very good team, it’s difficult to pick against Team Falcons here.
| The MongolZ | Team Falcons |
|---|---|
| bLitz (IGL) | NiKo |
| Techno4K | TeSeS |
| 910 | kyxsan (IGL) |
| mzinho | m0NESY |
| Senzu | kyousuke |
| Metric | The MongolZ | Team Falcons | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pistol round win% | 49.5% | 52.4% | Falcons |
| Top-rated player | Senzu (1.11) | m0NESY (1.20) | Falcons |
| Map win-loss | 62-42 | 71-56 | The MongolZ |
Stats include all matches played by both teams, except for Team Falcons’ top player. kyousuke is omitted as Falcons’ top player. He had a 1.28 rating in his first match with Falcons, and technically stands as the team’s top-rated player as a result.
The MongolZ and Team Falcons have played against each other just once in 2025 thus far, despite regularly competing in the same tournaments. That match came at PGL Bucharest, with Falcons winning 2-1. This win came pre-m0NESY and pre-kyousuke, so Falcons is a very different team in IEM Cologne.
The MongolZ made it to the BLAST Austin Major grand finals but fell to Team Vitality. The team returned to action in IEM Cologne with a good win over 3DMAX.
Team Falcons rebounded, at least to some degree, from its Blast Austin Major flop by beating GamerLegion.
| Market | Odds |
|---|---|
| The MongolZ to win | 2.27 |
| Team Falcons to win | 1.61 |
| Over 2.5 maps | 1.97 |
Lines pulled from GG.BET at 10:30 am MT on July 26, 2025.
Falcons vs GamerLegion – HIGHLIGHTS – IEM Cologne 2025 | CS2
The MongolZ notched a strong win over 3DMAX in its first match in IEM Cologne and without that, the GG.BET live odds might be even more skewed. Regardless, Falcons should be a decent favorite here, and that has proven to be the case with all the best CS2 betting sites.
Our pick: Team Falcons as the match winner at 2-0 at 2.79 odds at GG.BET
See all the The MongolZ vs Team Falcons odds at GG.BET!
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