Team Falcons: will the Saudis succeed in creating an unrivalled superclub?

Team Falcons have made quite a splash on the professional Dota 2 scene lately, breaking into Valve's esports MOBA discipline with the signing of big name players. The team is clearly serious about ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 and all the way to 2024. Falcons are also actively working on creating a Counter-Strike 2 superteam and have already acquired an extra-class coach.

In this article you will learn about how Team Falcons came into being and how it spent the first years of its existence, its entry into the Dota 2 scene and the successes of the new squad. We also take a look at what other squads in the Arabian organisation are doing well, and what prospects Team Falcons might have.

The emergence of Team Falcons and the early years of their existence

Team Falcons emerged in Saudi Arabia and started their active activity at the end of 2021. The team won silver at the Saudi eLeagues 2021: Champions Cup in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Overwatch under the Falcons Esports tag, earning $16,000 in prize money.

In 2022, Team Falcons tried their hand in various eSports disciplines. The results include a second place finish at the eLaLiga 2022 - Grand Final, which earned them $42,986. The team also won bronze at the Gamers8 Rocket League Tournament and $200,000 in prize money. The second place at Gamers8 2022 Rainbow 6 Siege brought the organisation $250,000. The team clearly has two most promising directions - Rocket League and Rainbow 6 Siege. Team Falcons were also active in PUBG and FIFA.

Dota 2 roster signing in 2023

Team Falcons had previously tried competing on the local Dota 2 scene, limiting themselves to participating in Saudi eLeagues. The biggest achievement of that era for the team was winning the Saudi eLeagues 2021 Champions Cup, which allowed Falcons Esports to earn $21,315.60. It's worth noting that in addition to the three Arab players, the Falcons were joined by Ukraine's Funn1k and Bulgaria's PLEB.

Team Falcons decided to break into Dota 2 at the end of the 2023 professional season, i.e. after The International 20 23. Obviously, the team was aiming for a trip to ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 as the only major Dota 2 LAN tournament at the end of this year with a prize pool of $1,000,000.

The Saudis unveiled the new players on their social media accounts on the 11th of November. As a carry Team Falcons took skiter. The Slovakian previously distinguished himself playing for Tundra Esports, with whom he won The International 2022.

The most controversial was the choice of the centre-back for Team Falcons. Malr1ne, who previously played for Nemiga Gaming, is only remembered for winning two Pinnacle Cup tournaments: Malta Vibes. In addition, the Russian player may have problems getting a visa to a number of Western countries from the Russian Federation's full-scale aggression against Ukraine.

The captain of the team became the representative of Jordan ATF. Ammar has already managed to play for OG, Nigma Galaxy and Quest Esports during his career. The player was able to establish himself as a rather original hard laner. His achievements include wins at ESL One Stockholm Major 2022 and ESL One Malaysia 2022, 3-4th place at Riyadh Masters 2022 and top-8 of The International 2022.

Cr1t-, representing Denmark, at 27, has made a name for himself playing for teams like OG, Evil Geniuses and Shopify Rebellion. The cyber athlete has a wealth of experience playing at Major and The International level tournaments, including a bronze medal at The International 2018.

Another former Tundra Esports representative and The International 2022 champion, Sneyking has proven to the world that he is an excellent player and an extremely experienced player. The synergy of Sneyking and skiter is clearly a strong trump card in the hands of Team Falcons.

After the announcement of the renewed team members Falcons went to conquer the qualifications for ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023. There was no opponent for the Saudi club in the open qualifiers, so ATF and its teammates automatically passed to the closed part of qualification. Team Falcons started their journey with the semi-finals of the upper grid, where they confidently outplayed Winter Bear on two maps in a row. In the final winner ATF and Team Ledge beat PSG.Quest in a full bo3 series and went down to the bottom of the grid. The rematch against Winter Bear ended with Falcons winning with a similar result. In the grand final, the Saudi squad outlasted PSG.Quest 3-1. Thus, Team Falcons will go to the big LAN-championship in Malaysia. The team is also now successfully playing on Pinnacle: 25 Year Anniversary Show, where they passed the group stage without any problems.

And what about other esports disciplines?

At the time of writing, Team Falcons, in addition to Dota 2, are present in such esports disciplines as Counter-Strike 2, where the roster is currently in the process of re-forming, Mobile Legends, Rocket League, FIFA, League of Legends, VALORANT, Rainbow 6 Siege and PUBG.

The CS line-up of the organisation is worth a closer look, as there the Saudis are trying to do something similar to their Dota 2 story. Team Falcons are clearly aiming to sign world-class players and staff. The team has already hired zonic, the legendary coach of teams like Astralis and Team Vitality. Also in the squad is BOROS, who was signed in the middle of this year. Team Falcons' ambitions in Counter-Strike 2 are also evidenced by the failed transfer of G2 Esports player NiKo.

Most of the squads have been playing on the local Arabian scene and home championships in Saudi Arabia, but some have been able to make big strides this year. Fifth place at the RLCS 2022-23 World Championship and bronze at Gamers8 2023 Rocket League provided the organisation with a total of $300,000 in prize money. Tenth place in the standings at the FNCS 2023 Global Championship brought Team Falcons $50,000.

Prospects for the European organisation

The main advantage for Team Falcons as an esports organisation is the huge budget. It allows you to experiment and try your hand in different disciplines and with different lineups. The presence of rich sponsors in Saudi Arabia is also an absolute bonus. Although Urpay and STC Play are not so well known in the English-speaking world, but they have proven themselves at the local level.

Also Saudi Arabia, thanks to its interest in the international circuit and the availability of a lot of money, is increasingly becoming a host for major international competitions in various disciplines. An example of this is the Gamers8 tournament series. Team Falcons, being a home club, can easily receive direct invitations to such tournaments and at least have the opportunity to practice with top opponents from all over the world.

Conclusion

If Team Falcons do everything right and take care of their squads, creating all the necessary conditions, this esports organisation has a chance to become one of the best in the whole world thanks to extremely favourable input data. In Dota 2 they have presented quite a strong roster, which will show its potential at ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 already in mid-December. And the idea of assembling a team of bright players in Counter-Strike 2 could cause problems for the rest of the world stage tops.