m0NESY joins Falcons ahead of Austin Major

It's finally official: Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov is now a member of Falcons with the Russian superstar AWPer joining the Saudi-backed organization on April 14. Weeks of rumors and hints were slowly confirmed; first by insiders, then by the G2 camp themselves.

He leaves quite the legacy — and conundrum — for G2 Esports, who must now navigate the Austin Major without their star player and one of the world's best in m0NESY. Meanwhile, Falcons shape as a heavyweight for June's pinnacle event.

The move was made official early on April 14 via an announcement video from the Falcons social team. Nicknamed "The Baby Goat," m0NESY will rep the Saudi organization going forward. The Russian sniper will debut with Falcons at IEM Sydney next week, before the team begins their Austin Major preparation.

He'll be replacing Abdulkhalik "degster" Gasanov, who wrapped up his short Falcons tenure as an MVP at PGL Bucharest. There, Falcons downed G2 3-0 in the grand final, after which m0NESY announced his time at G2 was up.

"Thank you to everyone who supported G2 and me all this time," he said. "This was a chapter that made me stronger. People who will stay in my memory forever. A team that was my home, my second family. Thank you for everything."

G2 has yet to reveal their new fifth member. Degster remains an option and his performance in Romania this past week has assured he remains in the minds of top teams as the major draws nearer.

As for Falcons, m0NESY's arrival sees him link back up with friend and former G2 teammate Nikola "NiKo" Kovač. The pair, alongside several teammates at G2, helped steer the organization into the modern era with six tier one trophies including the coveted ESL double of IEM Katowice and IEM Cologne in 2023.

M0NESY's return to NiKo's side was rumored as early as 2024 with G2 knocking back offers for the Russian AWPer as the season drew to a close. He had signed with G2 until the end of 2025, meaning the suggested record-breaking buyout is likely to be above six digits.

Falcons' CS2 squad is now:

Falcons with m0NESY will open their IEM Melbourne account against SAW on April 20.

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