Sneyking on Team Falcons: "Third place is not bad"

Team Falcons had one hell of a journey at PGL Wallachia Season 1. Coming to the tournament, the team faced visa issues. Thus, they had to bring in The International 2022 Champion, Leon "Nine" Kirilin, as a stand-in for their midlane. Despite this, the team made an incredible run throughout the tournament. They were undefeated during the group stages and made it to the playoffs.

The Banter for PGL Wallachia.
Credits: PGL

Unfortunately, the team found their match in the playoffs. While Xtreme Gaming sent them to the lower bracket, Team Spirit sent them packing on the final day of the playoffs. After getting eliminated, the support player of Team Falcons, Jingjun "Sneyking" Wu, reflected on their mistakes during their elimination series.

The Game

The series between the teams, consisting of the former TI champion and the current reigning champions, went the distance. In game 1, Team Spirit took the match despite Team Falcons drafting two of their signature heroes, Timbersaw and Chaos Knight, played by their offlaner, Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf, and their safelaner, Oliver "skiter" Lepko, respectively. Spirit drafted Clinkz as their safelaner.

Timbersaw and ATF are synonymous. (Credits: Valve)

Despite Teams Falcons having an advantage during the laning stage, Spirit's draft did more damage during the skirmishes and allowed them to take objectives faster. Spirit took the first game at 37 minutes.

Yatoro ain't a fan of the flying old man. (Credit: Valve)

Falcons stomped Team Spirit in the second game with an offlane Slardar and a safelane Gyrocopter, forcing a deciding third game.

Luna is a well-rounded safelaner for this meta. (Credits: Valve)

The third and final game went to the wire. Instead of picking comfort heroes, the two teams heavily relied on the meta and built their draft around it. Team Spirit took Lifestealer as their safelaner, and Falcons took Luna. The deciding game was intense, and Team Falcons only had a footing on the game at the thirty-minute mark. They took a set of barracks with their lead.

Truly a face only a mother could love. (Credit: Valve)

However, Team Spirit managed to sneak back into a game with a brilliant play at 40 minutes near their tri-camp. Another skirmish near the Roshan at the 43-minute mark swung the game in Spirit's favour. Spirit effectively used their lead, forcing an end-game skirmish at Falcon's high ground at 53 minutes, taking the game and the series.

It was the heart-breaking scene for most Team Falcon fans. However, placing third with a stand-in at a tier 1 tournament is impressive.

Sneyking: "Team Spirit caught us off-guard."

Sneyking at The International 2022, before joining Team Falcons.
Credits: Valve

Reflecting on the deciding game, Sneyking confessed it slipped away from their hands. The player admitted that the team knew they had the lead, but Team Spirit outplayed them. Sneyking expressed that they would have liked to do better. However, under current circumstances, he is content with placing third.

" When we go to game 3, we were ahead for the majority of the series. In the third map, we knew that we were in a commanding position, but Team Spirit got some nice smoke ganks and caught us off guard, took some very nice team fights for them to come back. We kinda just mess up. It is what it is. Considering the circumstances, we had a stand-in, very last minute, third place is not bad. Obviously, we would have liked to done better but it is what it is." 

Sneyking on Nine

Tundra Esports. Nine after their series against Team Secret at Ti11.
Credits: Valve

The stand-in for Team Falcons, Nine, also had a history with Sneyking. They were teammates back in Tundra Esports. Together, they lifted the Aegis of Champions at The International 2022. However, Nine has been on a competitive break for seven months now. The player only came out of his retirement as a stand-in for Team Falcons. Regarding his former teammate's in-game performance, Sneyking revealed that Nine is ready for the competitive Dota 2.

"Nine definitely warmed up really well. In the beginning, he was a bit rusty, which respectfully so, it makes sense, he hasn't played competitive much, hasn't pub much. He was just playing for fun here and there, kinda on vacation for the majority of it. We had to pull him in very last minute, so he did us a great favour and I'm very grateful for him helping us out. We also gave him a chance to prove himself. He still has it in him if he wants to compete. It's really up to him if he wants to continue." 

Sneyking on upcoming DreamLeague Season 23

A graphic of the groups at DreamLeague Season 23.
Image Source: Twitter.@ESLDota2

The journey of Team Falcons at PGL Wallachia Season 1 has ended. Fortunately for the fans, Team Falcons are participating in the DreamLeague Season 23, which starts tomorrow. Sneyking also commented that they will work on their mistakes for the upcoming tournament.

" It's going to be confident but not too comfortable. For me, after every win or loss, there is a lot of certain learning outcomes and you just have to take it in and see what it is. We made too many mistakes today. Obviously, we should have won this third game. We got out team fight by Spirit, which is something they are very good at, and we are going to watch that."

DreamLeague Season 23, which will begin tomorrow, is the final pitstop for teams before the Riyadh Masters 2024. Team Falcons are one of the favourites to win the tournament.

Featured Image Source: Twitter.@pgldota2

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