The Falcons’ success with karrigan and the results of PGL Astana 2026 — highlights from the new All About Counter-Strike podcast

Analyst Jonathan “Devilwalk” Lundberg and host James “BanKs” Banks appeared on the latest episode of the All About Counter-Strike podcast. Here’s a quick rundown of the highlights in our article.

According to BanKs, Kazakhstan has some crazy fans, comparable only to those in China. He described how many young people surrounded the hotels of the players who had arrived for PGL Astana 2026. At the same time, the host noted the negative side of such behavior, as it isn’t very respectful.

James also touched on HEROIC’s performance, noting that they lost to teams like FURIA, Gentle Mates, and even Magic. Thus, according to the host, the team’s form is declining.

The same is happening with PARIVISION. BanKs believes that although they continue to be invited to various events, the team has dropped out of the top 10 and lost a lot of VRS points.

BanKs praised Gentle Mates for their performance at PGL Astana 2026, given that they’ve always struggled at Tier 1 tournaments. However, the team’s problem is that the average age of its players is 27.

The host also touched on The MongolZ’s performance. Although the Mongolians are scheduled to have a bootcamp before the major, this does not explain their lack of practice leading up to PGL Astana. BanKs urged the team to practice more in order to improve their results.

James was pleasantly surprised by 9z’s performance, as they not only defeated PARIVISION but also Team Falcons and MOUZ. Thus, the team exceeded all expectations.

Devilwalk, in turn, noted that FURIA’s performance at PGL Astana 2026 can be considered a success given their recent slump. They defeated Monte, HEROIC, and Gentle Mates, losing only to Team Spirit, and advanced to the playoffs.

In addition, another team exceeded all expectations—Magic. BanKs never thought they would make it this far at PGL Astana 2026. In particular, the host praised the team’s sniper, Abdurakhim “mo0N” Isa.

As for MOUZ, analysts agreed that they are always expected to reach the decisive stages of tournaments, but the team is currently undergoing a rebuild, so it’s proving to be more difficult.

BanKs initially believed that Team Falcons would succeed with their new captain, Finn “karrigan” Andersen. At the same time, he noted that some rounds and calls resembled those under Damjan “kyxsan” Stoilkovski.

In addition, the host praised Team Spirit, which, nearly 300 days after its last triumph, was finally able to win a Tier 1 trophy again.

The podcast participants deemed kyxsan’s interview controversial, as it came at a time when Team Falcons had begun to show strong results under their new captain.

Both BanKs and Devilwalk noted that ESL Pro League Season 25 is moving to Saudi Arabia, and the event announcement was rather lackluster.

As for the CS Asia Championships 2026, Team Falcons, PARIVISION, MongolZ, and MOUZ were named as favorites. Since this is a VRS championship, there’s a lot of money on the line, BanKs stated.

At the same time, Jonathan and James were very positive about the fact that the Esports World Cup 2026 will now be held in Paris.