Team Falcons victorious at ESL One Birmingham 2024

1 May 2024

For Dota 2 players and fans in the United Kingdom, the end of April 2024 had been circled in their agendas for a while. That’s because from April 22nd to April 28th, the ESL One Birmingham Major was played, as the name of the event reveals, in Birmingham. More than 15.000 fans followed the action live, while thousands more fans watched one or more of the many livestreams, once again confirming the Dota 2 Majors as major happenings for fans of esports in the UK and worldwide. They all saw how Team Falcons, based in Saudi Arabia and managed by British former Dota 2 player Grant “GrantR” Rousseau, beat Russian organisation BetBoom Team in the Grand Final to take home the prestigious title and $ 300.000 of prize money.

Undefeated in Group Stage

During ESL One Birmingham 2024, twelve teams competed for a piece of the one-million-dollar prize pool. The tournament started with a Group Stage, consisting of two groups of six teams. Eventual champions Team Falcons were placed in Group A, together with the likes of Team Liquid and Talon Esports, in which they managed to finish in first place.
Team Falcons did not get off to a flying start though, recording ties in each of their first four matches. Fortunately for them, the other teams in Group A were mostly booking ties as well, which meant that a victory versus Talon Esports on the final day of the Group Stage was sufficient for later champions to clinch first place. They did so without losing a single match, allowing them to qualify for the Upper Bracket Semifinals directly.

False start in Playoffs

The first encounter of the knock-out stages did not go as hoped for Team Falcons, as they lost 1-2 to London-based Tundra Esports. As a result, the Saudi Arabia-based side dropped down to the Lower Bracket Quarterfinals, where Team Liquid was waiting. During the Group Stage, Falcons and Liquid tied 1-1, but their second encounter in the tournament ended in a victory for the former.

After that, Team Falcons disposed of European side OG in the Lower Bracket Semifinals, followed by a 0-2 victory over Team Tundra in the Lower Bracket Final. Seeing as the latter had been dropped to the Lower Bracket after losing 0-2 to BetBoom Team in the Upper Bracket Final, the Grand Final was set to see BetBoom face off against Team Falcons for the ESL One Birmingham 2024 title.

Tough start for Falcons

Match 1 of the Grand Final lasted for about 46 minutes and saw Team Falcons book a relatively easy victory. Match 2 then started off with a seemingly reinvigorated BetBoom Team, but it wasn’t enough to keep their opponents from winning consecutive matches, making it 2-0 in favour of Falcons. The Grand Final was decided in the third match, which with about 40 minutes of action was also the shortest of the three Grand Final matches. As a result, Team Falcons finished a strong tournament with a dominant display in the Grand Final to earn themselves not only a prestigious ESL One title, but also $ 300.000 worth of prize money and 6.400 EPT Points. Runners-up BetBoom Team took home $ 175.000 in prize money and 4.800 EPT Points.