Welcome to EGamersWorld.
The action at IEM Melbourne 2025 continues. We're watching the Intel Grand Slam tournament as the play-offs unfold.
We open with the semi-finals of IEM Melbourne 2025. We're watching Falcons vs MOUZ.
Let's try to find out who from the title pair MOUZ - Falcons will be stronger and make it to the Grand Final, and who will be one step away from the Grand Final.
Let's go.
Falcons form
We open our analysis of the Falcons vs MOUZ match with an analysis of the Falcons' form. In this match they play the number one side with odds to win at around 1.6.
For the whole year 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 was Top 16.
- Falcons roster: Magisk, NiKo, TeSeS, kyxsan, m0NESY.
At the end of the year Falcons tried to make DreamTeam. So far it's going so well, because they failed the first tournament with the new squad. 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 ranked 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. They got to IEM Dallas 2024 thanks to ESL rankings. However, IEM Dallas 2024 did not manage to go far: TOP-12. In general, in the season 2024 Falcons showed a disgusting game, only moments, like at the BLAST Premier: Fall Showdown 2024, got into the prizes.
The Falcons' high point in the 2024 season was their performance at PW Shanghai Major 2024: European RMR A, where the team finished in the Top 14 before reaching the main tournament.
Dream Team Long Sogpeg's 2025 season began with an appearance at BLAST Bounty Season 1. There, Falcons expectedly failed, finishing in the top 16. At the following IEM Katowice 2025 nothing changed: TOP-16, no chance.
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 is better than all the tournaments the Falcons played in the 2025 season. They reached the play-offs for the first time in a long time, winning the Swiss 3-1. In the first round of play-offs Falcons pleasantly surprised by beating Eternal Fire 2-0. Next up was a win over FaZe, but a loss to MOUZ in the grand finals.
They started ESL Pro League Season 21 with a win over Liquid. Next, we lost to MOUZ and 3DMax. They clung to life at the tournament by beating FURIA, but then came Eternal Fire and the Falcons' elimination at the top-11.
At the BLAST Open Lisbon 2025 Falcons Long started their performance with a defeat to MOUZ and ended up in the bottom of Group A, beating Huns Esports. However, already in the next round they lost to Vp, thus finishing the BLAST Open Lisbon 2025 on the 12th place.
At PGL Bucharest 2025 Falcons lost to CoL and GamerLegion, but barely beat paiN, keeping a chance for play-offs. They went on to beat Rare Atom and qualified for the play-offs after beating MongolZ. They opened the main part of PGL Bucharest 2025 with a victory over GamerLegion. Then they beat FaZe 2-1 and in the grand final they literally wiped out their principal rival G2, winning the first major CS2 tournament in a long time.
IEM Melbourne 2025 opened with a win against sAw. Then they outplayed NaVi, but in the match for seeding in play-offs Ledge and Vitality, thus Long Sogpegov in the main stage from the quarter-finals. In the first round of the play-offs they destroyed GamerLegion, ending the game 2-0 while giving up a total of 7 rounds for the series.
Falcons Mappool
The Falcons' best map is Nuke (1 game, 1 win). Next is Ancient (1 win, 1 loss).
Among the unfavourable maps for Falcons are Vertigo and Anubis. They have 3 matches and 1 win on the former, while Anubis has 1 loss.
MOUZ Form.
We continue the MOUZ vs Vitality match with the analysis of MOUZ form. In this match they play as outsiders with odds to win around 2.
- MOUZ line-up: torzsi, xertioN, Jimpphat, Brollan, Spinx.
In the opening match of IEM Cologne 2023 MOUZ played against The MongolZ. An easy outing on paper ended in a nervous Bo1 on the dops, followed by a 22-19 win for MOUZ on Nuke.
Already in the match to qualify for the group stage MOUZ were much more confident. They beat NiP 2-0 (16-12 Nuke and 16-7 Inferno) without any problems.
The first match of the group stage was not a big challenge for MOUZ either. NaVi lost at Ancient with a score of 16-9 and Overpass with a score of 16-12.
After beating NaVi, MOUZ failed to gain a foothold and they lost the next two series. As a result, the "mice" at IEM Cologne 2023 took the top 12.
Before ESL Pro League Season 18, the team played at the local championship Thunderpick World Championship 2023: European Series #1. They managed to win, defeating BIG 2-0 in the grand finals.
In their debut match at ESL Pro League Season 18, MOUZ faced mibr. Being the favourites, MOUZ failed to defeat the Brazilians and unexpectedly ended up in the bottom of Group B.
The group stage was a mixed bag for MOUZ, but still more successful than not. An unexpected defeat in the top set cheered MOUZ up and they effortlessly went over the heads of their opponents, Heroic among them, at the bottom of the group stage table. Having not lost a single game in the lower grid, MOUZ made it here.
In the first round of the ESL Pro League Season 18 play-offs, MOUZ seemed to be off the chain. The Brazilians from FURIA were literally stomped, and the "mice" celebrated an easy 2-0 victory, giving their opponents a total of 9 rounds per game.
In the match before that, MOUZ met another grandee of the European scene - FaZe Clan. "Mice" on a spree swept through the match and closed the series with a score of 2-0.
In the match for the exit here MOUZ met G2 Esports. They became another trophy in the Mouse's piggy bank at ESL Pro League S18.
MOUZ went on to defeat ENCE (2-1) and NaVi in the EPL S18 Grand Final with a resounding 3-0 score. Prior to the Thunderpick World Championship 2023, MOUZ played at IEM Sydney 2023, where they again faced FaZe. This time FaZe retaliated for the upset defeat and knocked MOUZ out at the Top 4 stage.
Thunderpick World Championship 2023 MOUZ ended prematurely. They lost in the first round of play-offs to FaZe, who later became the tournament champions.
Later was the CS Asia Championship 2023, where MOUZ performed well. They reached the grand finals, but there they lost to FaZe Clan with a score of 0-2.
At Elisa Masters Espoo 2023 MOUZ started their performance with a rather unexpected defeat. They defeated Apeks 16-19 in the first round of the group stage. Next up was a match with CoL for life at the event, which the "mice" won with a one-card deficit. However, they couldn't stay in the championship race for long: MOUZ crashed out at the Top 6 stage.
After that, it was BLAST Premier: World Final 2023, where the "mice" took TOP-4. This was the last tournament of the 2023 season. They started the 2024 season with a top-7 finish at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European Qualifier B. Next was IEM Katowice 2024, where the "mice" took TOP-4.
At PGL Major CS2 Copenhagen 2024, they made their way from TOP-1-2 to European RMR B. At the tournament itself, Mice started off with a win over Ecstatic and then beat Eternal Fire, which gave them a 2-0 lead.
Next up was IEM China 2024, where MOUZ continued to "dial it up". This time the team managed to reach the grand final, but FaZe were stronger.
MOUZ were very confident in the play-offs of ESL Pro League Season 19. They also confidently swept through the play-offs championship and won the tournament by shutting out Vitality 3-0 in the grand finals.
MOUZ visited IEM Dallas 2024, where they finished in the top 12, which is a very difficult result for a team of MOUZ's calibre.
Esports World Cup 2024 MOUZ started with a match against Sashi Esports, where they won 2-1, which again is not very good. After making it to the play-offs they defeated FURIA Esports with a score of 2-1. The Esports World Cup 2024 MOUZ finished in the top 4, Ledgeiv beating NaVi in the grand final.
IEM Cologne 2024 Long Competed straight from the group stage, where in the first match they played against Falcons and won 2-1. And in the play-offs match they beat CoL even more confidently with a 2-0 win. In the first round of play-offs "mice" very confidently beat G2 Esports with a score of 2-0, but then lost dry to NaVi, taking the final TOP-4.
ESL Pro League Season 20 started with a shaky 2-1 win over Rooster. MOUZ's problems at EPL S20 came to light in the following matches, when MOUZ lost to Imperial and CoL 0-2 in succession. Fnatic won the last chance net and therefore lost to CoL 0-2, leaving ESL Pro League Season 20 without making it to the play-offs.
At IEM Rio 2024 MOUZ played in Group A. MOUZ made it to the play-offs from the bottom of the group after beating CoL and FaZe Clan. In the play-offs they beat Vitality (2-1) and FURIA (2-0). They failed to get the victory: in the grand final they lost to NaVi with the score 1-3. Later MOUZ played at BLAST Premier: World Final 2024, where they were ranked Top 6.
They got to the Elimination Stage of PW Shanghai Major 2024 thanks to their successful play at European RMR A, where they took TOP-1-2. Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 started with a victory over paiN Gaming. Later they lost to MongolZ and FaZe, but defeated 3DMax. In the match for life at the tournament, they outplayed MIBR. MOUZ opened the playoffs of Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 with a match against MongolZ, where they won 2-0, though not without problems. In the next match MOUZ played against Spirit, where Ledge won 0-2.
The start of the 2025 season was very hard for the "mice". The team played a very mediocre BLAST Bounty Spring 2025: Closed Qualifier, finishing in the top 32 and similarly poorly in IEM Katowice 2025, failing to make it out of the group stage and finishing in 16th place.
The group stage of PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 was a bitterly contested: MOUZ Long Sogpeg started with victories over BIG and 3DMax, but then lost to Falcons and FaZe. In the decisive match they defeated Vp, which gave them a passage to the main stage. The play-offs started with a match against paiN Gaming, where MOUZ won 2-0. Next - victory over Astralis and finally victory over Falcons in the grand finals.
They started ESL Pro League Season 21 with a win over FURIA. Then they defeated Falcons, but Vitality failed to qualify for the play-offs with a score of 3-0. They got it on their next attempt by beating Liquid. In the play-offs Long Sogpegov with a win over G2 Esports (2-1). In the semi-finals, they defeated Spirit in a tough match. However, there was not enough energy for the grand final: MOUZ Ledge defeated Vitality 0-3.
At the Long Circuit BLAST Open Lisbon 2025 MOUZ played against Falcons, where they won 2-0. Then they got a very difficult victory in the match against Spirit (2-1). But Vitality, as expected, did not have enough energy: 0-2 and got into the first round of play-offs. The play-offs opened with a match against G2 Esports, where the "mice" beat the "samurai" without any chances. In the match to advance to the grand finals, they defeated Eternal Fire 2-0. In the grand finals, they lost to Vitality with a score of 2-3.
At IEM Melbourne 2025, MOUZ won Group A and advanced to the semi-finals.
MOUZ Mapple
MOUZ's favourite card remains Inferno. The Mice have played it three times in the last 3 months and won all their games there. Nuke is also doing well, with MOUZ winning 3 out of 4 Nuke games played.
Among the good options are Vertigo and Ancient, where MOUZ have 2 wins in 3 games each.
The most undesirable map is Mirage. MOUZ have played it 6 times, but won only once.
History of head-to-head meetings between MOUZ and Falcons
In the season 2025 the teams have seen each other 4 times. MOUZ are leading 3-1.
Predicted result of Falcons vs MOUZ at IEM Melbourne 2025
In this match I expect an even game. Falcons have clearly gained over the last few months, while MOUZ haven't really lost. In general, I'm expecting bo3.
Bottom line: total +2.5.
