Will s1mple be able to save Zonic and the Falcons?

When Team Falcons signed a contract with Zonic, everyone understood what their plan was. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has utilized its financial capabilities in sports such as football, so it wasn’t difficult to guess their intentions in esports.

After acquiring ESL and Team Falcons, the next goal became much more evident. Surprisingly, they have already to some extent achieved this goal in Dota 2. At the BetBoom Dacha Dubai, Team Falcons emerged as champions, despite facing off against the world’s top teams. And this was a tournament with a prize pool of $1 million.

Adventure of Team Falcons in CS2

In CS2, Team Falcons secured a 3-4th place finish at IEM Katowice after a series of impressive victories against teams like Natus Vincere and ENCE. However, when the moment became more crucial, they faltered and stumbled.

In the qualifiers for the PGL Major Copenhagen, Team Falcons suffered three consecutive defeats following their initial win. Their opponents were FaZe Clan, Eternal Fire, and AMKAL ESPORTS. This setback prompted them to reassess their strategy for the season.

BOROS was immediately benched, and a monumental announcement was made: s1mple, one of the greatest players in Counter-Strike history, would be signed for a short period of time. Natus Vincere agreed to loan him out after his prolonged inactivity, simply to provide him with an opportunity to play in CS2 without disrupting their own lineup and making room for him.

S1mple solution

We vividly remember how s1mple, when announcing his break, mentioned the possibility of moving to another club, stating that he would be open to hearing offers.

It’s not surprising that after seven years of playing for Natus Vincere, he wanted to try something new. However, considering his track record, will he be able to enjoy playing for Team Falcons?

Everyone knows that he is a demanding player who can get really upset during matches. Dealing with someone like him requires a certain amount of patience, especially if you’re subjected to his criticism. Let’s see if the current players on the team have enough patience towards him.

Of course, there won’t be a need for that if the roster starts winning trophies right away. But what are the chances of that happening when teams like Team Vitality, Team Spirit, FaZe Clan, G2 Esports, and others are in excellent form? Not to mention that s1mple is currently not in his best individual form due to his absence.

Moreover, Sasha himself has been behaving quite oddly lately. First, he suddenly starts promoting some casino owned by his friends, and now he claims that Falcons will pay him a million per month, and he already feels like a football player being paid millions. Obviously, it’s all sarcasm and a joke from the player’s side, but we understand that every joke has a grain of truth. Sasha has been loaned for only a month, specifically for a particular tournament, and no one there will be giving him millions. On the other hand, everyone understands that this “trial period” with the Falcons will cost them a pretty penny, and the contract will be bought out from Natus Vincere for a substantial amount.

Benefits for Zonic

For a legendary coach, it’s an excellent opportunity to work with the best players. He has always worked with the best, but here he had players of a slightly different caliber. Now, with Sasha joining the team, the situation can truly change.

In addition to the fact that the team’s young players will be able to learn from Kostylev, Zonic also gets a kind of star player to rely on in matches. He had that with ZyWoo in Vitality, and it was the same in Astralis with Dev1ce. Now, a similar story unfolds in Falcons.

Another point is that ZyWoo and Device were in their prime forms, but s1mple is far from that individual form, and there’s a suspicion that, among other factors, it’s due to his age. It’s unlikely he will return to that form, especially after such breaks in his career. And no matter what anyone says, such pauses always cause damage, even to skilled players like Alexander. Zonic has at least a month to observe, guide, and try to craft something from this lineup that s1mple joined. Will it work? That’s a very serious question, and honestly, there are doubts about the success of this project. In the long run, it’s likely to succeed, but no one wants to wait for years while pouring millions of dollars into a team that achieves nothing in the competitive arena.