Team Falcons

Team Falcons (formerly Falcons Esports) is a Saudi esports organization. Founded in 2017, the organization fields rosters in multiple esports. The org has garnered a reputation for pursuing high-profile players and coaches, being able to successfully construct "superteams" in the process.

History

Team Falcons was co-founded in 2017 by Mossad "Msdossary" Al-Dossary, the winner of the 2018 FIFA eWorld Cup. Msdossary also serves as the CEO of Team Falcons. In August 2022, Grant Rousseau joined Falcons, serving as their Global Director of Esports. Rousseau has stated that Msdossary's goal when founding Falcons was to develop "an esports world for gamers in MENA". Indeed, being a Saudi organization, the team plays in MENA, EMEA, and Asian regions. Since its founding, a lot of Falcons' branding work has been focused on achieving popularity in MENA and Europe, in a similar fashion to the American FaZe Clan. The organization's financial backers have not been formally announced, though Nicholas Taifalos of '' Dot Esports'' wrote that "it is believed he org hasconnections with the Saudi royal family".

In July 2022, Gamers8 (a tournament organized by the Saudi Esports Federation), announced that Team Falcons would have their own dedicated spaces at an event in Riyadh. These two spaces were Falcons Arena and Falcons District; the former featured gaming tournaments, meet-and-greet events, and a live cooking show. The latter space featured merchandise, a museum showcasing the team's accomplishments, a gaming PC center, the "Learn to be a PRO" academy, and a streaming area. "Gamers8: The Land of Heroes", another esports festival was held in 2023 at Boulevard Riyadh City. The festival included an attraction dubbed "Falcons HQ", where visitors could play against gaming influencers.

Falcons has been documented targeting high-profile players and coaches who have considerable past success in professional esports, in hopes of signing them. The org has been successful in their courting of these players and coaches, developing a reputation of forming what what esports media writers have referred to as "superteams" in various different esports. Some players, however, have turned down joining Falcons, with Canadian ''Counter-Strike'' player "Twistzz" even stating "obviously, if I wanted the bag and I didn't care about my career, then I would go to Falcons. But I do care about my career. I have morals and it's not about the money." In 2023 and 2024, the organization made a push to form rosters across multiple esports. Taifalos wrote that "Many gaming fans and pundits have likened Falcons' push into esports to ' sportswashing'."

Divisions

Team Falcons fields rosters in '' Apex Legends'', '' Counter-Strike 2'', ''Dota 2'', ''FIFA'' / '' EA Sports FC'', '' Overwatch'', '' PUBG'', '' Rocket League'', '' Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege'', and '' Valorant''. They have also previously competed in ''Call of Duty'' competitions.

In mid-2023, Falcons was aiming to make a deal with Astralis, an org looking to sell its slot in the ''League of Legends'' EMEA Championship (LEC). However, talks broke down after Riot Games (''League''s publisher) did not sanction the purchase; the slot eventually went to Karmine Corp.

In May 2024, Falcons announced a partnership with AP Bren, an esports team competing in '' Mobile Legends: Bang Bang'' tournaments. Their partnership was made ahead of the season 13 playoffs of MPL Philippines.

''Apex Legends''

In May 2024, Falcons entered the competitive ''Apex Legends'' scene, signing Phillip "ImperialHal" Dosen, Noyan "Genburten" Ozkose, and Rhys "Zer0" Perry. Due to the trio's dominance in professional ''Apex'' with their previous teams ( TSM for Hal and DarkZero for the latter two), esports media writers considered their joining under Falcons to be a "superteam". ALGS Year 4 Split 2's Pro League marked the first competitive campaign for the trio.

''Counter-Strike 2''

Team Falcons fields a '' Counter-Strike 2'' (''CS2'') roster. In October 2023, the team signed coach Danny "zonic" Sørensen. zonic previously led Astralis to four Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (''CSGO'') major championships, before winning a fifth title with Team Vitality. zonic's signing was considered a surprise as Falcons ranked 55th in the world at the time. Later in October, Falcons signed Emil "Magisk" Reif, who was previously coached by zonic on Astralis and Vitality. Falcons also signed Marco "Snappi" Pfeiffer from ENCE. Media reports about Nikola "NiKo" Kovač agreeing to join Falcons were issued, though he denied a transfer to the team from G2 Esports. Instead, Falcons' ''CS2'' roster was ultimately rounded out with the signings of Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia and Pavle "Maden" Bošković, also from ENCE.

In February 2024, Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyljev joined Falcons on a one-month loan from Natus Vincere. While he was loaned to Falcons specifically to compete in at the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2024 tournament, the team was upset and eliminated in the first round. The team also failed to qualify for the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024. Also in March, they signed Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen to the roster.

In April, the team suffered another upset by RUBY in the first round of the European Open Qualifier for the Esports World Cup 2024 tournament. The loss meant that Falcons would not represent its sponsor region in the tournament.

''Dota 2''

In November 2023, Falcons entered the competitive ''Dota 2'' scene with their signings of Oliver "skiter" Lepko, Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaft, Andreas "Cr1t-" Nielsen, Wu "Sneyking" Jingjun, and Stanislav "Malr1ne" Potorak. The team won the BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024 tournament in February, with ATF being award MVP honors. In March, the team had a dominant victory in the DreamLeague Season 22 tournament, winning the $300,000 grand prize after a 3–0 sweep over BetBoom Team in the finals.

''Overwatch''

Falcons won the Season 2 tournament of the Overwatch Contenders' European division in July 2021. In February 2024, Falcons constructed a roster for the ''Overwatch'' Champions Series (OWCS). It was made up of South Korean ''Overwatch'' veterans and included some former ''Overwatch'' League champions.

''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege''

The Saudi org fields a roster in ''Rainbow Six Siege'' (''R6''). The team qualified for the Six Invitational 2024, though were eliminated in the tournament by Team Liquid. In February 2024, Falcons signed Hashem "Hashom" Al Jafri.

''Valorant''

In 2022, Falcons won the inaugural Valorant MENA League, which was held in Riyadh and organized as a partnership between the Saudi Esports Federation and Valorant's developer, Riot Games.

References

{{Dota
2017 establishments in Saudi Arabia
Apex Legends teams
Call of Duty teams
Counter-Strike teams
Dota teams
Esports teams based in Saudi Arabia
Esports teams established in 2017
FIFA (video game series) teams
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang teams
Overwatch teams
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds teams
Rocket League teams
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege teams
Valorant teams