Every trophy-winning roster has an origin moment. For Team Falcons, that moment came on April 20, 2026, when the organization officially announced Finn "karrigan" Andersen as their new in-game leader.
The Announcement
Within the same hour that karrigan's arrival went public, Falcons confirmed that Damjan "kyxsan" Stoilkovski had been moved to the bench. The North Macedonian rifler had been part of Falcons' project since the previous roster reshuffle but was clearly the odd man out once karrigan became available.
Why karrigan Was Available
FaZe's failure to qualify for the Cologne Major left the organization in an unusual position. Losing a Major appearance streak dating back to MLG Columbus 2016 reopened questions about leadership, direction, and the roster's ceiling. When Falcons came calling, karrigan reportedly wanted a new challenge with a Tier-1 core built for silverware.
The New Roster
The lineup that would go on to lift the Cologne trophy consisted of:
- Finn "karrigan" Andersen — IGL
- Nikola "NiKo" Kovač — rifler
- Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov — AWP
- René "TeSeS" Madsen — rifler
- Maksim "kyousuke" Lukin — rifler
- Coach: Danny "zonic" Sørensen
A Second Chance for Legendary Names
NiKo had failed to lift a Major trophy across 18 attempts heading into Cologne. m0NESY, despite being widely regarded as the best AWPer in the game, had never even reached a Major grand final. karrigan, meanwhile, hadn't won a Major since PGL Antwerp 2022 with FaZe. Together with zonic — the winningest coach in Counter-Strike history — the pieces were in place for a proper title challenge.
Aftermath for kyxsan
kyxsan was formally released and later signed with Aurora Gaming on July 8, 2026, joining another Turkish-project Tier-1 squad.
