Falcons have secured their opening game of the BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026 with a convincing win over NRG, as the Americans failed to take home a single map, leading to a comfortable 2-0 start for Falcons playing with a stand-in.
VETO
- NRG removed Nuke
- Falcons removed Overpass
- NRG picked Ancient
- Falcons picked Dust2
- NRG removed Mirage
- Falcons removed Inferno
- Anubis was left over
Map 1: Ancient; Pick: NRG; Winner: Falcons
Starting on the defense of their opponents’ pick, the Falcons went 4-0 up before conceding a round. Solid defense to begin with from the Falcons, the slow-paced NRG offense failed to reach consistency in breaking the defense, leading to m0NESY and co. walking away with a 9-3 lead before moving over to the offense. Winning the pistol and the following round, NRG managed to narrow down the lead before the first gun round, but the way the Falcons went shifted the momentum of the game. After a slow and methodical offense from NRG, the Falcons hit them with a fast yet composed one, which they struggled to keep up with, leading to an effortless closure of the map. NiKo, with 21 kills, followed by m0NESY with 20, ensured NRG weren’t given a shot at a comeback as the map was closed with a 13-6 scoreline.
Map 2: Dust2; Pick: Falcons; Winner: Falcons
Following a tough beating, NRG showed up in better form for the following map, especially in the first half. With the Falcons winning the pistol, NRG did not let them run away with the lead, as they not only kept up with them but managed to level the scoreboard before switching sides. The shaky offensive display for the Falcons got excused in the second half as they hit the board by converting the force buy after losing the pistol. With the first round, the defense came to their name, Falcons remained dominant as they conceded one more round before closing the map with a 13-8 scoreline. A 26-kill masterclass from Sonic got outshined by the entire Falcons side playing in unison to secure a one-sided win.
NRG losing to the Falcons is anything but expected, and the route they have in this event won’t get any easier. Outperforming the expectation set on them is the only way they make it past the Group Stage, and judging by the teams they have drawn, it looks highly unlikely.
