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The big Counter-Strike 2 is gaining momentum. We are preparing for the Long Run of one of the most prestigious tournaments with a rich history - IEM Cologne 2024, which will be held in August.
IEM Cologne 2024, like previous iterations of the championships in this series, will be held in a "mixed format", i.e. Play-In followed by a group stage. We are interested in the Play-In and The International, and more specifically in the match between Eternal Fire and Falcons, which is the opening game of the whole tournament.
Let's try to find out who from the pair Eternal Fire - Falcons will be stronger and will go to the next round, where they will play against the winner of the pair Complexity - ALTERNATE aTTaX.
Let's go.
Eternal Fire uniforms
Let's open the breakdown of the Eternal Fire vs Falcons match with an analysis of Eternal Fire's form. 1.5.
The 13-team world ranking team has struggled throughout the season. Despite the huge number of matches, success was rarely achieved.
At the beginning of the year, Eternal Fire won the ESL Pro League Season 17: European Conference, thus securing a spot in the EPL S17. The Main Event ended miserably - only top 20 and no group.
Participated in BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR B. There they took TOP-14, which was not enough to reach the only Major of the season.
In the middle of the year, Eternal Fire showed their best form. The Turks finished in the top 4 twice, but did so at TIR-B tournaments. They broke into the top four at CCT North Europe Series #7 and Thunderpick World Championship 2023: European Series #1.
- Eternal Fire roster: XANTARES, Calyx, MAJ3R, Wicadia, woxic.
Before the ESL Pro League Season 8 Long Round, MAJ3R's team played on CCT Central Europe and Pinnacle Cup V. Both championships ended for them on top 8.
Eternal Fire played their debut match at ESL Pro League Season 18 against Cloud9. They played as the number two and got a natural result: 0-2, but with 11 and 12 rounds respectively.
In the first match of the lower grid Eternal Fire played against 9INE. The Turks were clearly on form, as they managed to run over a pretty tough competitor without much difficulty. The match ended with a score of 2-0 in favour of Eternal Fire. As a result, the ESL Pro League Season 18 run ended very well: the team barely qualified for the play-offs of the tournament, where they managed to win two series. EF left Astralis and BIG behind, but Ledge and Natus Vincere.
EF later made the Top 16 at Roobet Cup 2023, where they finished Top 16 and Top 2 at PARI, Please. In 2024, Eternal Fire attended PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European Qualifier B, where they finished in the Top 2, advancing to European RMR A.
IEM Katowice 2024 started with the Play-In stage. By the way, they passed it very easily: 13-1 against BB Team and 2-0 against Rebels Gaming allowed them to get into the group stage. In the first match of the group stage they also easily defeated Falcons (13-9; 13-6), and then showed a very cheerful CS in the match against the top-2 team of the world FaZe Clan, but Ledge were defeated on three maps (1-2). At the end of IEM Katowice 2024 Eternal Fire took the top-12 position, after which they started playing at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European RMR A.
At the qualifying tournament, the Turks finished in the top 8, which gave them the opportunity to qualify for PGL CS 2 Major Copenhagen 2024, which is true in the first stage.
At PGL CS 2 Major Copenhagen 2024 Eternal Fire are feeling very good so far. The Turks have 2 wins and 1 loss: they beat Mongolz and Pain, but lost to Heroic 0-2 in the match for the next stage. However, they succeeded in their next attempt: they defeated GL with a score of 2-1.
Eternal Fire debuted in the legends stage with a surprise win against Vitality. However, in the second round they lost to MOUZ, which brought them to 1-1 score. And then there was a real sensation: 13-1 against FaZe Clan and 2-1 score for the Turks.
Eternal Fire got into the play-offs of the tournament after the victory over Vp. The match ended with the score 2-1. However, they failed to move beyond the first round, as NaVi were stronger than the Turks and closed the series with a score of 2-0.
They also attended ESL Pro League Season 19, where they failed, and quite seriously. The Turkish team took TOP-21-28. Then diametrically opposite situation at CCT Season 1: Global Finals and then - not leaving the group at YaLLa Compas 2024.
Eternal Fire got to IEM Cologne 2024 thanks to the ESL world ranking.
Eternal Fire Mappool
The best map is Nuke. There are 4 matches and 4 wins.
Anubis (7 matches, 85% wins), Mirage (4 matches, 75% wins) are doing very well. Vertigo - 71% wins in 7 matches, Inferno and Overpass - 3 wins in 5 matches.
Falcons form
We continue our analysis of the Falcons vs Eternal Fire match with an analysis of the Falcons form. In this match they will play as an outsider with odds to win at around 2.2.
For the whole of 2023 Falcons have been, as they call it, in search of themselves. They started the professional season with appearances at B-Tier tournaments: Thunderpick Bitcoin Series #2, OMEN WRG Challenge 2023 and CCT West Europe Series #1. At the first two, they celebrated a top-2 finish, and at the more prestigious CCT, a top-8 finish.
Later tried to make it to the Paris Major . Had two attempts, at BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR A and BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR B. Both were unsuccessful: top-11 and top-6.
In the middle of the year, Falcons continued to bang their heads against the wall. Top-13 at ESL Challenge League Season 45: Europe, Top-10 at ESL Championnat National Spring 2023 and Top-24 at Thunderpick World Championship 2023: European Series #1.
Tried to qualify for IEM Sydney 2023, but fell off at the top-64 stage in the open qualifiers. As a Saudi Arabian club they got a slot at Gamers8 2023, where they played to the best of their ability, which is Top 16.
- Falcons roster: Snappi, Magisk, maden, SunPayus, dupreeh.
At the end of the year Falcons tried to put together a DreamTeam. So far they are doing so well, because the first tournament with the new squad they failed. That was BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2024, where the team finished in the top 12.
At IEM Katowice 2024 they got to the IEM Katowice 2024 by ESL Ranking points. There they were in the top 10 before the tournament's Long Shogpeg, but for what merits - a big mystery.
IEM Katowice 2024 Falcons started with a defeat against the best team of Turkey - Eternal Fire. After losing to the Turks, Falcons were close to crashing out of the tournament in a lower bracket match against Rebels, but managed to stay afloat thanks to a 2-1 win. In fact, a similar situation happened in the match against CoL, where Falcons gave up the first map, but cameback on the second and closed the series with a third. Later they defeated NaVi, and at the end of the championship they took the top 4, Ledgeiv to the future champions from Team Spirit.
Later they played at ESL Pro League Season 19, where they completely failed, finishing in the top-28. IEM Dallas 2024 started with a loss to G2, but then confidently ran over Monte with a score of 2-0. However, the Falcons were not enough for much more and at the end of IEM Dallas 2024 they finished in TOP-9-12.
Before the performance at IEM Dallas 2024 they visited Challengers at DreamHack. At IEM Dallas 2024 they got to IEM Dallas 2024 thanks to ESL rankings.
Falcons Mappool
The best map Falcons is Nuke (1 game, 1 win). Next is Ancient (1 win, 1 loss).
Among the unfavourable maps for Falcons are Vertigo and Anubis. On the former they have 3 matches and 1 win, while Anubis has 1 loss.
History of head-to-head matchups between Falcons and Eternal Fire
EF and Falcons have played each other twice in 2024 and both times Eternal Fire won.
Predicted result of Eternal Fire vs Falcons at IEM Cologne 2024
Eternal Fire will have to run over Falcons, but the chaotic nature of the Turkish club does not allow you to bet on their victory with full confidence. That is why I will take the total +2.5.
Bottom line: total +2.5.
