Very few teams are talked about more than Falcons right now. After signing s1mple on loan for the rest of the season, and the acquisition of NiKo being all but confirmed, Falcons are full steam ahead in a new and different direction. A direction that their IGL Snappi, isn’t exactly specialised in. He has never been a leader of egos, in fact, he’s been the opposite. His gift that makes him a unique IGL has been scouting talent, and Falcons are clearly not using that gift.
So it feels inevitable that rumors of a new IGL being looked at are in full swing right now.
Seeing those stories, it made us wonder: Who should, or will they sign?
After some thinking, we’ve decided to put together a list of three IGLs that can take this Falcons team’s reigns, and have some success. Because we all know they could use some success right now.
apEX
Credits: @BLASTPremier & @KonkolMichal (Michal Konkol)
The man who kicked these conversations off. Harumi reported Falcons were interested in apEX as Snappi’s replacement. Vitality quickly denied the rumor, making fun of it on their social media platforms. Yet what if we entertain it, even for a minute?
Imagine basically the exact same Vitality team we saw have success back in 2023, but instead of ZywOo and Spinx, it’s NiKo and s1mple. Obviously, you have to question if a team that worked in 2023 would even work today if you had the same players. But there’s something so appealing about a direct comparison between ZywOo and spinx vs s1mple and NiKo. Rarely do you get to compare great players in the same circumstance.
A major selling point also has to be that Zonic and apEX have worked together recently, so it’s not an unproven combination in modern CS. If you’re taking a risk on an IGL to tame NiKo and s1mple, having someone who can work with a coach like that is incredibly valuable.
The problem is, Vitality isn’t going to let him go, and apEX has no reason to leave his fellow Frenchie ZywOo. Not unless Falcons want to get really silly and sign both.
This move is an 8/10 if it happens, but it feels like a 1/10 chance of happening. Even that feels generous.
gla1ve
Credits: JoaoFerreira @itsmeERROR & PGL
We can hear you think: “Really gla1ve?” and our answer is yes, really, gla1ve.
Think about Falcons and all the moves they’ve made so far, most of the stars they’re targeting are older and have won previously. gla1ve fits the Falcons mold perfectly, and he makes them a Danish team, which does nothing if not give you a ready-made fanbase. Something Falcons really need if they want to have a reputation in the scene or any goodwill at all from the community.
The storyline is similar to apEX: “What if we take a great old team, and change 2 players for stars?” Except one of the players being replaced is Xyp9x, and we don’t think it’s crazy to say that NiKo is an upgrade over Xyp, even if they’re not playing the same roles. That’s not even mentioning s1mple instead of device. Falcons would have an experiment any 2017-2018 Counter-Strike fan won’t be able to look away from.
The only difference between gla1ve and apEX is that we know for a fact apEX can still IGL and gla1ve’s last success was so long ago there’s a good amount of fans who won’t remember it.
Something about this move screams inevitable, but it also screams failure. The influences of NiKo and s1mple’s egos, combined with the attempt to recapture past success feels like it’s destined to fail spectacularly. For the sake of pure entertainment we kind of want this move to happen, there’s really no losing for the fans. Either the roster is bad and it’s entertaining, or they’re good and a lot of people get to see a 2017 alternate universe.
We kind of want this to happen at this point, just because it’s guaranteed content. If Falcons have learned anything though, surely this move can’t happen.
Magisk
Credits: PGL (No photographer listed on site)
Magisk is the IGL at home your mom told you about. But that isn’t a bad thing, like a home-cooked meal. It’s cheaper, can have a lot more flavour, and gives you more flexibility.
To explain why we think this, in an interview with Magisk last year, we asked about apEX’s IGLing and if Magisk had any input. He answered that he’d help in the mid-round, but apEX is their main IGL. Yet if you read into what he says, about being a big voice, and if you start following Magisk’s career, and some of the news stories that have surrounded him. There’s just something in him becoming an IGL. It goes beyond just him, rumours on the street have long circulated that zonic wants to see Magisk take that step into becoming a leader.
Don’t forget that at the end of Astralis, Magisk took the reigns from gla1ve.
You can say what you want about Magisk being unproven, it’s not a bad point. But you can’t help but think this is a very good option for Falcons. Especially if enables them to round out the team with a rifler that actually fits. There is a role gap in this team as it stands, and they can sign a specialist to solve that problem with the remaining player spot if they don’t have to sign someone to replace Snappi.
That does depend on them recruiting sensibly, which we haven’t seen them do just yet, but with enough stars, you have to be good eventually right? Right?
