Team Falcons snatched the ESL One Birmingham trophy from upper-bracket team BetBoom in dominant fashion. Despite playing four games in the bracket stage compared to BetBoom’s one, the Falcons crushed their opponents in a 3–0 sweep—a victory coach Aui_2000 has since suggested came from widespread underperformance.
Falcons was the newest organization to compete at ESL One Birmingham. The roster only entered the Dota 2 scene last November but did so with a bang, signing several experienced players at the top of their game alongside 19-year-old Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak. Bursting with potential but having fewer opportunities to prove their worth, the Falcons have now sent a clear message to their opponents: They’re here to stay.
Falcons coach Aui_2000 explained to Dot Esports that the Dota 2 team enjoyed “super easy integration” into their new org, particularly due to their past relationships. However, he did admit to challenges with maintaining a stable mentality during games, particularly ensuring players were not tilted by taunts, trash talk, and losses. “It’s something we’re sort of struggling with right now,” he explained after the team’s ESL victory. “We ended up winning the tournament, but I think our form and our mental is not the best. We ended up performing well when it mattered, but many other teams can perform at a better level.”
Game two provided a particularly impressive window into how Falcons can use scalability to their advantage, overcoming BetBoom’s early lead to score their second definitive win. Utilizing Sven in their draft, skiter ultimately tipped the scales in his team’s favor. With such brutal damage-dealing ability the team gained a significant upper hand in fights, allowing the rest of the squad to level up rapidly for the late game.
For the Falcons, their dominating win in the second game was significantly impacted by their opponent’s shortcomings. “BetBoom played pretty bad; it was a free win,” Aui suggested to Dot. “I don’t really know what they were doing, it was a pretty bad choke for them. Once that game happened, I think the series was probably over.”
With the ever-elusive Birmingham sun on their wings, the Falcons rode an inevitable wave of confidence, and in a stadium echoing with falcon caws, they cruised to victory.
Despite Aui’s admission that ESL One Birmingham saw teams underperforming, he acknowledges Falcons’ strengths. “We’ve trained hard for a lot of different situations, and we have a good understanding theory-wise of the game.”
Birmingham was the third event win by Falcons this year. As the road to Riyadh continues, their fight to prevent other teams from climbing back to the top continues.
