m0NESY on Falcons’ Major win: “If we bring this mentality, we can win any other tournament”

Bruno Sobieraj Published June 21, 2026

Falcons have defeated FURIA 3:0 in the IEM Cologne Major 2026 Grand Final and lifted the historic trophy in front of thousands of fans inside the LANXESS Arena, and many more around the world.

Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov, one of the best CS2 players, was the best performing member of the Major-winning roster, earning himself the MVP medal for the event.

We had the opportunity to briefly speak with him after Falcons’ Grand Final victory.

What was it like playing so well with all your teammates, and especially on map three when you weren’t playing your best but all your teammates played well?

m0NESY: I didn’t care about the last map to be honest, I was just enjoying the moment. We were leading 2-0 in the best of five, and the third map, obviously, I wasn’t playing my best CS.

But I saw all the other players are playing the best CS they can, and I was just supporting them, doing everything for them, because Inferno is a hard map for [an] AWPer sometimes, and you cannot do much, but I don’t need to do much when my teammates can shine like this.

And if we can win Major like this as well, I’m also a good winner.

During this Major run in the playoffs and group stage, were there moments when you felt affected by the pressure in your game?

No, there was actually not a single moment. Maybe against NAVI when we played, it was a very hard game, and I thought at some point we could lose, but we were always there to make a comeback, and yes, I think all five players, including coach Danny, in this tournament played and worked insanely.

m0NESY’s MVP level performance helped NiKo and Falcons to a maiden Major trophy. Image credit: © ESL

Since karrigan came in, how did your belief in the team evolve over the past 60 days? When did you reach 100% confidence that you’re going to win the Major?

No, to be honest, when he joined the team and we played the first practice with him, I noticed something different in my game, you know. I started playing a bit different, obviously, just because of his playstyle, and every time we played the tournament it was Grand Finals, so it was three Grand Finals in a row for us, it was always a good result, but not always close, you know.

But this time on Major, I don’t know, I was believing from the beginning.

Do you think you can bring this Major playstyle and this level to other tournaments in the rest of the year?

I believe so, I believe we can do it, and we just have to remember this moment the way how we won, and to use this, because this experience is priceless, you know, there is no prize for this experience. y

You just need to experience it by yourself, and now we have this experience, now we know how to win the Major, and obviously, if we can bring this fighting mentality, this mentality that we have shown in this Major, we can win any other single tournament, yes.

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Featured image credit: © ESL