On April 13th, Alban Stilgar Dechelotte, CEO of G2 Esports, essentially confirmed Ilya m0NESY Osipov`s transfer to Team Falcons. PGL Bucharest 2025 marked the last tournament for the sniper with his first tier-1 team. The esports player will join Nikola NiKo Kovac, who also moved to Falcons. Officially, the sniper is already part of the new organization, replacing Abdul degster Gasanov. It is also likely that Rene TeSeS Madsen understands that his departure from the club is also imminent.
Let`s discuss why this transfer is a great decision for all parties involved. Each organization benefits in its own way, and m0NESY gets the opportunity to fulfill his vision in CS and realize his potential to become the best.
Let`s start with a less popular opinion in the CS community: it was time for m0NESY to leave G2. Their transfer policy seems to have shifted away from aiming for the highest tournament results. According to Petar Peca Markovic`s post on X, the management is generally satisfied with the roster`s development under his leadership because G2 won championships in Katowice and Cologne and secured a couple more trophies a few years ago.
Looking at G2`s results without going into detail, they are indeed good: six victories at tier-1 events since November 2022 (when Peca became general manager) is an excellent result. However, assessing the current situation, it`s clear that with one of the world`s best players, the team could have long become a major champion and earned a Grand Slam, instead of failing at tournaments inconsistently.
There`s a possibility that G2 Esports (which is understandable for any business) has prioritized earnings over team results. Yes, the club can make good money even without trophies – this is the difference between a “good club” and a “good team.” With m0NESY`s transfer, management clearly received a six-figure sum. Sniper hades Miskiewicz will cost significantly less, meaning the club will still have extra funds for future transfers and a team that consistently ranks in the top 10. Yes, losing an asset like m0NESY is a blow, but for a club of G2`s size, recovery will be easy.
Objectively, besides Falcons, only NAVI could afford to buy out m0NESY`s contract among the top-10 teams. And even then, because NAVI had a priority to buy out the sniper – it was one of the conditions from NAVI`s management back in 2022 when Osipov was just transferring to G2. And when I say “could buy out,” I naturally mean not only the budgets of certain clubs but also the feasibility of the purchase. All clubs have significant funds, but not all are willing to spend them even on the most star-studded roster in the world. There are more important expenses. And I haven`t even mentioned the Russian player`s salary. It`s very unlikely that the club owners would offer m0NESY significantly less than NiKo – even if Osipov lags behind the greatest rifler in terms of media presence, he is definitely not behind in skill, and may even be leading.
We must mention the reunion of the magnificent duo m0NESY and NiKo, whose aura is felt even through the screen. From the players` interaction, it`s clear that they have long ceased to be just teammates – they are now connected by a strong friendship. And even when we all accepted NiKo`s transfer from G2, there was still a persistent feeling in our hearts that Kovac and Osipov`s story should end differently – preferably with a major trophy lifted overhead.
M0NESY will also be able to work with the best coach in CS history – Danny zonic Sørensen. Yes, the last couple of years at Falcons have been unsuccessful for him, but there is an excuse – the coach stated back in 2024 that he initially wanted different players, but circumstances prevented their signing. Zonic found himself in a situation where he had to work with what he had, not with whom he truly wanted. These are very different approaches. We are already seeing the results of working with the right people – NiKo has brought the team out of the darkness.
There is no doubt about the effectiveness of such cooperation, as zonic has already proven that he works excellently with top snipers (here we quietly omit mentioning the short Falcons era with s1mple – nothing would have helped that roster). Nicolai device Reedtz and Mathieu ZywOo Herbaut are proof of that. And how does Sørensen even manage it?
PGL Bucharest 2025 proved to us that Team Falcons in its current lineup can already command respect and compete with teams, at least from outside the top five. With m0NESY, the situation will become even better – in the entire world top-15, there are at most three teams that Osipov probably couldn`t improve (Mongolz and Aurora due to the language barrier, and Vitality, which already has Mathieu ZywOo Herbaut). With his playoff performance, René TeSeS Madsen proved that the team doesn`t necessarily need to make another replacement, as he can still deliver good games. And this is great news, because replacing one sniper already requires a serious restructuring of the game, let alone two transfers. Even considering the great potential of possible newcomer Maxim kyousuke Lukin.
The team`s next event will be IEM Melbourne 2025, starting on April 21st. The team has literally a week (or even less, considering flights, media days, and weekends after PGL Bucharest 2025) to build at least a basic default structure. Therefore, unreal expectations should not be placed on the team – Vitality, MOUZ, and even NAVI, whose players, although they don`t stand out in individual skill lately, still play structurally complex CS, will not let the team into the finals.
Before the major, which is likely the main goal for this roster, the team has a little over a month. And we are again approaching the fact that the team is unlikely to learn absolutely everything in such a short time. At the same time, with such firepower, they are obligated to be regular participants in the playoffs, and on days when absolutely everything goes in, to beat even the giants. With the arrival of kyousuke, the team will even (but only on paper) become the main competitor to Vitality. The main thing is to avoid the “super team curse,” where all the potential remains potential, and the players disperse to new rosters, losing a year of their careers.
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Finley Holt