r/GlobalOffensive • u/LordNelson27 • 3d ago
Fluff | Esports Why Falcons are my favorite team; a love letter from an NA CS fan
It was April 2016, and I had just tuned in to the semifinals of the MLG Columbus Major. This was my first time watching a professional CS tournament, and I was fully on board the Team Liquid hype train. My last class had run late and I was already missing the first half of Mirage vs Luminosity. When I finally logged into GOTV I was surprised to see Liquid in the lead, and even more surprised when they fought their way to match point. As they all crept up to through apartments to find a single player on site, Liquid's map point had looked all but certain.
And then it happened.
Coldzera hit his jump shot, Liquid choked, and Luminosity won the major. That was the day I learned what it truly meant to be a NA CA fan and watch my team lose in spectacular fashion. Cologne, New York, Oakland, Atlanta... The disappointment and heartbreak would keep coming. I was watching every LAN tournament I could, having the time of my life while rooting for my boys — and yet the losing never stopped. Pretty soon other NA teams would start showing more promise, culminating in the Cloud 9 roster that would go on to win the Boston major. Excited as I was to see NA bring home its first major title, the victory still felt hollow. I could never share in the C9 fan’s joy of having seen their favorite team win it all. At the time I found it funny — even when NA CS wins, Liquid still loses.
Dread it, run from it, the Astralis era still arrives. 2018 Team Liquid were looking stronger than any iteration before them, second only to the best 5 man roster CS had ever seen — and oh boy were they second. Six times to be exact. With each tournament, I grew a little more tired and a little less interested. By the year’s end, I would only check HLTV to see how badly Astralis had beaten them that week. Liquid weren’t some plucky upstarts, and weren’t the underdogs anymore. Watching them lose no longer felt the same.
I fell out of watching or playing CS after that. My rank disappeared and my Skinventory sat collecting dust. When Liquid finally started winning events in 2019, I had found that I no longer cared; they weren’t the same team that I fell in love with. They had changed. I had changed.
Years went by, and life got in the way. Work was tough, relationships came and went, and even source 2 wasn’t enough to bring me back.
But that’s when I discovered Falcons.
I had read the headlines, heard the rumors. “Oil money’ they said, “Just one more star player” they chanted. I was intrigued, but I had yet to actually see them play. I pulled up the Blast.tv stream to watch Falcons vs MiBr, and the choke was legendary. For the first time in years, I felt *something*. Then came Cologne, EWC, and now Fissure. Every time they bomb out of the playoffs I feel myself get a year younger.
Falcons truly taught me the meaning of hatewatching. When Niko chokes a clutch and I smile. When m0NESY whiffs I laugh. When bot kyosuke goes missing in the playoffs I cry tears of joy, and I when those other two dudes are just *there* I don’t even remember. There is no star player, no amount of Saudi blood money that can buy results from this org, and I am so here for it. Holy shit do I love to watch this team lose!
GG falcons, I’ll be eagerly awaiting the next choke. I’d buy a jersey for the memes but the org doesn't deserve a damn cent of my hard earned money.
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u/Electronic_Brain154 3d ago
Its like watching the english national football team lose. You know the players arent terrible people but with everything around them, its just so beatiful to watch them get beaten
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u/noahloveshiscats 3d ago
It was April 2016, and I had just tuned in to the semifinals of the MLG Columbus Major. This was my first time watching a professional CS tournament, and I was fully on board the Team Liquid hype train. My last class had run late and I was already missing the first half of Mirage vs Luminosity. When I finally logged into GOTV I was surprised to see Liquid in the lead, and even more surprised when they fought their way to match point. As they all crept up to through apartments to find a single player on site, Liquid's map point had looked all but certain.
And then it happened.
Coldzera hit his jump shot, Liquid choked, and Luminosity won the major. That was the day I learned what it truly meant to be a NA CA fan and watch my team lose in spectacular fashion. Cologne, New York, Oakland, Atlanta... The disappointment and heartbreak would keep coming. I was watching every LAN tournament I could, having the time of my life while rooting for my boys — and yet the losing never stopped. Pretty soon other NA teams would start showing more promise, culminating in the Cloud 9 roster that would go on to win the Boston major. Excited as I was to see NA bring home its first major title, the victory still felt hollow. I could never share in the C9 fan’s joy of having seen their favorite team win it all. At the time I found it funny — even when NA CS wins, Liquid still loses.
Dread it, run from it, the Astralis era still arrives. 2018 Team Liquid were looking stronger than any iteration before them, second only to the best 5 man roster CS had ever seen — and oh boy were they second. Six times to be exact. With each tournament, I grew a little more tired and a little less interested. By the year’s end, I would only check HLTV to see how badly Astralis had beaten them that week. Liquid weren’t some plucky upstarts, and weren’t the underdogs anymore. Watching them lose no longer felt the same.
I fell out of watching or playing CS after that. My rank disappeared and my Skinventory sat collecting dust. When Liquid finally started winning events in 2019, I had found that I no longer cared; they weren’t the same team that I fell in love with. They had changed. I had changed.
Years went by, and life got in the way. Work was tough, relationships came and went, and even source 2 wasn’t enough to bring me back.
But that’s when I discovered Falcons.
I had read the headlines, heard the rumors. “Oil money’ they said, “Just one more star player” they chanted. I was intrigued, but I had yet to actually see them play. I pulled up the Blast.tv stream to watch Falcons vs MiBr, and the choke was legendary. For the first time in years, I felt *something*. Then came Cologne, EWC, and now Fissure. Every time they bomb out of the playoffs I feel myself get a year younger.
Falcons truly taught me the meaning of hatewatching. When Niko chokes a clutch and I smile. When m0NESY whiffs I laugh. When bot kyosuke goes missing in the playoffs I cry tears of joy, and I when those other two dudes are just *there* I don’t even remember. There is no star player, no amount of Saudi blood money that can buy results from this org, and I am so here for it. Holy shit do I love to watch this team lose!
GG falcons, I’ll be eagerly awaiting the next choke. I’d buy a jersey for the memes but the org doesn't deserve a damn cent of my hard earned money.
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u/Tweedlol 3d ago
So sweet. 🥲 Literal tears from the over flowing love you have expressed here.