MOUZ has defied the odds to lift their first trophy of 2025, and in front of live audience at last.
MOUZ has shaken off the criticism of the CS2 community after dropping IGL Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek and has emerged with an early 2025 trophy at PGL Cluj-Napoca, surviving a late scare against Team Falcons to win 3-1 (13-6, 4-13, 13-11, 13-9).
The win marks MOUZ's first trophy lift since ESL Pro League Season 19, but also their first in front of a live audience in over five years — and all after a rough opening to the iteration of the roster in 2025.
MOUZ break stage LAN duck in thrilling fashion
MOUZ ascended to the top step in Cluj-Napoca — a first for an org used to winning, but away from the spotlight. Huge victories came at EPL or BetBoom Dacha in the past, but there was always an asterisk: no stage, no crowd, and no bright lights.
The squad put such concerns to bed in Romania, dazzling the live audience with a slick performance led from the front by Ludvig "Brollan" Brolin. While he wasn't topping the scorecards, his success following his shift into IGL caught many off-guard, with the 22-year-old guiding MOUZ to a historic win.
"I'm f*****g happy! It's the first tournament as IGL and I'm really happy I believed in myself and my teammates just believing in me and that we could do this," Brollan said following the match. "I got really carried this final but I'm really happy and worked really hard for this. The last weeks have been exhausting."
Coach Dennis "sycrone" Nielsen echoed the captain's sentiment, adding that MOUZ's first arena win had to come at some point. "For this group of people its a long time coming. I think it was a team effort today — everyone was mentally in the zone, even without winning pistols."
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MOUZ opened the grand final with a dominant 13-6 display on Dust 2 before Falcons bit back; Nikola "NiKo" Kovač and René "TeSeS" Madsen combined for 42 kills on Mirage in Falcons' 13-4 win.
But after surviving on the T side of Nuke (13-11), MOUZ accelerated on Ancient and looked to end the series in four maps. They were made to wait by a plucky NiKo T side but the young squad held off Falcons and completed the tournament run to the trophy.
"I'm speechless. I've been on the losing side a lot on stages but it feels amazing to do it finally, to win," man of the match Dorian "xertioN" Berman said. "We've built an amazing atmosphere to be in and play in, and I'm really confident in what we have here."
"I won Cologne, I won a Major, but I'm shaking now more than I did before."
It's not all dour for Falcons. The much-criticized Saudi project hit their first final at a big event and have gone strength to strength in 2025 since the rebuild. It's still a honeymoon phase for the squad, who now lick their wounds after an otherwise successful tournament.
As for MOUZ, many may dismiss the win in Cluj-Napoca; many of the top 10 were absent choosing not to attend the event. Nevertheless, victory will still put a target on MOUZ's back — the question is whether it'll take five more years for an arena win.
Both MOUZ and Falcons leave PGL Cluj-Napoca and gear up for the next big event, ESL Pro League Season 21, which begins on March 1.
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