"I like the storyline that I can build in my head of first taking down Vitality, then Spirit or G2, whoever comes against us. It's only good teams from here on out, and for me, that's very motivating," René "TeSeS" Madsen told HLTV on media day before the IEM Cologne playoffs.
And what a storyline it was. Finn "karrigan" Andersen's much-maligned addition to the Falcons roster turned them from perennial has-beens to Major champions, while Nikola "NiKo" Kovač finally got his hands on a Major trophy to secure a milestone he "dedicated almost his whole life to."
Falcons navigated one of the toughest playoff brackets in recent memory, facing opponents with an average pre-event ranking of 3 (Vitality No. 1, Spirit No. 3, and FURIA No. 5). That stands in sharp contrast to the easiest playoff run since the HLTV rankings began in September 2015: Vitality's Paris Major campaign, where Into the Breach, Apeks, and GamerLegion averaged a pre-event ranking of 27.3.
While choosing the harder run between those two is incredibly straightforward, there are many factors that come into the equation when trying to find the absolute hardest run in history.
All of that begs the question: How does Falcons' run stack up when compared to Major winners of years gone by?
One of only five playoff runs with an average opponent rank below five, Vitality's second Major title was a stark contrast to the aforementioned "easiest" run in history at the Paris Major.
Vitality entered the Major as the favorites after winning six trophies in a row before coming to America and battled through Natus Vincere (Ranked No. 7 in HLTV's world rankings) in the quarters, MOUZ (No. 2) in the semis, and The MongolZ (No. 5) in the grand finals, giving them an average rank of 4.7.
While The MongolZ were far from the toughest opponent Vitality could have faced in the grand final, with early exits from Spirit and Falcons denying Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut and company the chance to meet either contender, their run in Austin still stands among the most difficult in Major history, while also leaving the team's critics after their Paris run with one less argument.
Natus Vincere's win in the first post-COVID Major, PGL Stockholm 2021, finally delivered Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev's Major trophy after the Ukrainian superstar placed second twice before, and the CIS squad needed to pass quite the gauntlet.
The first test for the then number-one team in the world was Vitality (No. 3), whom they dispatched 2-0 before besting Gambit (No. 4) with the same scoreline.
Ninjas in Pyjamas, the second-ranked team at the time due to their strong online form, was placed on the other side of the bracket, but was beaten by G2 (No. 6) in the quarters.
That meant Natus Vincere faced NiKo and company in the final, where another 2-0 victory completed a clean sweep of the playoffs with an average opponent rank of 4.3.
Natus Vincere's road to the title was also the second most dominant out of these five, as they lost only 65 rounds across their three 2-0 victories.
Falcons' playoff run at the IEM Cologne Major is considered by many to be the hardest ever. Coming into the tournament shortly after karrigan's addition, expectations for the squad were mixed, and they entered the quarterfinal against tournament favorites and defending Major champions Vitality as underdogs.
Falcons pulled off an upset to eliminate the world's top-ranked team, however, and followed that up with another massive test in the semifinals, taking down the red hot Spirit (No. 3) to book the organization's first-ever Major grand final appearance.
FURIA, who were ranked No. 5, were their lowest-ranked opponents in their title run, something made even more impressive by the fact that Falcons were fourth on the list coming into the event. The win against Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo's troops meant Falcons' average opponent rank came in at 3.
The only top-five team missing Falcons' playoff run was Natus Vincere, but even Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen and company were beaten by Falcons before the playoffs, in the 2-1 pool of the Swiss group stage.
Next among the hardest playoff runs is everyone's favorite underdog story, Cloud9, who secured North America's only Major championship on home soil at the ELEAGUE Major in 2018.
It was also by far the hardest surprise run. The two biggest shocks in recent memory, Gambit at PGL Krakow (an average playoff rank of 8) and Outsiders at IEM Rio (11.7), pale in comparison to what Tarik "tarik" Celik and company achieved in Boston.
Far from title favorites coming into the tournament, the North American squad rode a wave of momentum to beat three top-five teams on their way to victory, achieving the lowest average opponent rank of any Major run at 2.67.
That number must be caveated slightly, however, as Cloud9 came into the event as the No. 6 team in the world and were therefore better positioned to face the top teams in the world.
Cloud9's road consisted of wins against G2 (No. 5), SK (No. 1), and FaZe (No. 2), as their individuals took turns in putting the team on their backs on the way to one of the most memorable Major runs in history.
Last but not least is Astralis' win at FACEIT Major London back in 2018.
The Danes' run featured an average opponent rank of 3.3, but their run was nearly as hard as it could have been due to Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander's men being ranked number one in the world at the time.
Astralis' dominance was on full display in London, as a 2-0 win over the fifth-ranked FaZe set the tone for the rest of the tournament.
Liquid (No. 3) were then bested by the Danes in a one-sided semi-final, before Natus Vincere (No. 2) only mustered 15 rounds across two maps in the final, then still played in MR15, giving them an average opponent rank of 3.33.
The run added a remarkable chapter in Astralis' legacy, as the Danish squad exuded dominance over the rest of the scene in one of the most one-sided runs to a Major title.
They lost a total of 56 rounds across their three 2-0 victories, with only FaZe (twice) securing double-digits on a map against the Danes.
GamerLegion
Janusz 'Snax' Pogorzelski
Fredrik 'REZ' Sterner
Sebastian 'Tauson' Tauson Lindelof
Oldřich 'PR' Nový
Milan 'hypex' Polowiec
Adrian 'imd' Pieper
Falcons
René 'TeSeS' Madsen
Finn 'karrigan' Andersen
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač
Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov
Maksim 'kyousuke' Lukin
Danny 'zonic' Sørensen
Natus Vincere
Valeriy 'b1t' Vakhovskiy
Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev
Denis 'electroNic' Sharipov
Kirill 'Boombl4' Mikhailov
Ilya 'Perfecto' Zalutskiy
Natus Vincere
Mihai 'iM' Ivan
Justinas 'jL' Lekavicius
Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen
Ihor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov
Valeriy 'b1t' Vakhovskiy
Tarik 'tarik' Celik
The MongolZ
Usukhbayar '910' Banzragch
Garidmagnai 'bLitz' Byambasuren
Sodbayar 'Techno' Munkhbold
Ayush 'mzinho' Batbold
Azbayar 'Senzu' Munkhbold
Outsiders
David 'n0rb3r7' Danielyan
Dzhami 'Jame' Ali
Aleksei 'Qikert' Golubev
Evgenii 'FL1T' Lebedev
Petr 'fame' Bolyshev
Gambit
Dmitry 'sh1ro' Sokolov
Abay 'HObbit' Khassenov
Timofey 'interz' Yakushin
Sergey 'Ax1Le' Rykhtorov
Vladislav 'nafany' Gorshkov
Apeks
Astralis
Nicolai 'device' Reedtz
Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussen
Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth
Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander
Emil 'Magisk' Reif
Gambit
Abay 'HObbit' Khassenov
Mihail 'Dosia' Stolyarov
Dauren 'AdreN' Kystaubayev
Rustem 'mou' Telepov
Danylo 'Zeus' Teslenko
The MongolZ
Usukhbayar '910' Banzragch
Garidmagnai 'bLitz' Byambasuren
Sodbayar 'Techno' Munkhbold
Ayush 'mzinho' Batbold
Anarbileg 'cobrazera' Uuganbayar
Erdenedalai 'maaRaa' Bayanbat
FURIA
Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo
Yuri 'yuurih' Santos
Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis
Kaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato
Danil 'molodoy' Golubenko
Sid 'sidde' Macedo
G2
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač
Audric 'JACKZ' Jug
Nemanja 'huNter-' Kovač
François 'amanek' Delaunay
Nemanja 'nexa' Isaković
Vitality
Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire
Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut
Richard 'shox' Papillon
Kévin 'misutaaa' Rabier
Jayson 'Kyojin' Nguyen Van
Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen
Spirit
Dmitry 'sh1ro' Sokolov
Boris 'magixx' Vorobiev
Andrey 'tN1R' Tatarinovich
Myroslav 'zont1x' Plakhotia
Danil 'donk' Kryshkovets
Sergey 'hally' Shavaev
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač
FaZe
Finn 'karrigan' Andersen
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač
Håvard 'rain' Nygaard
Ladislav 'GuardiaN' Kovács
Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer
Vitality
Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire
Robin 'ropz' Kool
Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut
Shahar 'flameZ' Shushan
William 'mezii' Merriman
Rémy 'XTQZZZ' Quoniam
Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo
Liquid
Epitacio 'TACO' de Melo
Nick 'nitr0' Cannella
Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski
Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken
Keith 'NAF' Markovic
MOUZ
Ludvig 'Brollan' Brolin
Lotan 'Spinx' Giladi
Dorian 'xertioN' Berman
Jimi 'Jimpphat' Salo
Ádám 'torzsi' Torzsás
Into the Breach
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Fredrik 'REZ' Sterner
Nicolai 'device' Reedtz
Hampus 'hampus' Poser
Nicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez Zamora
Linus 'LNZ' Holtäng
Natus Vincere
Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev
Denis 'electroNic' Sharipov
Danylo 'Zeus' Teslenko
Ioann 'Edward' Sukhariev
Egor 'flamie' Vasilyev
Finn 'karrigan' Andersen
G2
Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire
Richard 'shox' Papillon
Kenny 'kennyS' Schrub
Alexandre 'bodyy' Pianaro
Nathan 'NBK-' Schmitt
René 'TeSeS' Madsen
Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander
SK
Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo
Fernando 'fer' Alvarenga
Marcelo 'coldzera' David
Epitacio 'TACO' de Melo
João 'felps' Vasconcellos
Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut
Cloud9
Tyler 'Skadoodle' Latham
Jake 'Stewie2K' Yip
Timothy 'autimatic' Ta
William 'RUSH' Wierzba
Tarik 'tarik' Celik
Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev
Natus Vincere
Mihai 'iM' Ivan
Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen
Ihor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov
Valeriy 'b1t' Vakhovskiy
Drin 'makazze' Shaqiri
Andrey 'B1ad3' Gorodenskiy