One of the greatest legends in the game, Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo has helped shape the past and in many ways, the future of Brazilian counterstrike. The 31-year-old has been an integral part of the scene, one which has surprised the most ardent CS: GO fans from across the globe with its IEM Rio Major. In the post-match interview after their exit from the Major, FalleN gave us some details on his CS: GO retirement.
The IEM Rio Major kicked off a few days ago with a live audience for the group stage – a first in CS: GO Major history. Right from Day 1, the Major was packed with fans from South America and a few from across the world. The energy at the venue with Gaules casting and fans cheering for their Brazilian players was unmatched in the history of the game. And one of the biggest reasons for the popularity of CS: GO in the region has been FalleN.
I’m planning to play for one more year.
FalleN
FalleN on the Brazilian crowd
Toledo has been a part of the scene for more than 18 years, often working on building a scene from the ground up in the region. Along with his teammates, FalleN put Brazil on the global CS: GO map, winning multiple CS: GO Majors and creating an era for themselves.
The Brazilian crowd came out in full force at Rio Major. Image Credit: ESL/Stephanie Lindgren.
These victories fuelled the passion in CS: GO fans in those years. More recently, several Brazilian teams have punched above their weight, upsetting favorites and winning crucial matches.
I didn’t even realize what’s going on. When you are a player you are under stress with preparation and all those things. I was watching the 00Nation match vs IHC game right now and that’s the first time I could see the crowd and appreciate them for 30 minutes. I could see people praying, people chanting, all those guys with the drums. You could see that even though we lost today it’s a big win for us. Everything we’ve accomplished in CS, it’s materialized here in the stadium. To be able to see so many CS lovers in Brazil – a part of it is because of the our results from last year so we’re proud of that. Even though we lost today, it’s a big win for us. I’m so proud that the Brazilian fans are delivering such a show – it’s amazing.
FalleN on the Brazilian crowd
Is FalleN retiring?
But there’s been some talk about FalleN taking a step back from being an active player in CS: GO. But the veteran player has put those rumors to rest, for now. He is going to stay on for another year, part of his commitment to building Imperial.
I’m planning to play for one more year. Because when I wanted to create this team, a lot of pieces were removed. And when I make commitments, I really want to live up to that. A lot of people are relying on me playing for one more year.
FalleN on his CS: GO retirement
Image Credit: ESL/Stephanie Lindgren.
Even though he will continue for another year, the player highlighted how the game is draining too much energy. At his stage in his life, after having devoted nearly two decades to the game, FalleN wants to move in a different direction. But not for at least a year.
But personally, I feel like I have to do other stuff in my life. I’m getting too drained, wasting time. It starts costing you more than the value. CS for me has value more than everything in my life for 18 years. But it’s getting to a point where I want to live other stuff, I want to live with my wife, I want to see my family more, stay home. So it’s very difficult for me. But at the same time, I want to make sure I’m fair to all the people that believe in me to live this moment here. So we’ll see how it goes.
FalleN gets dualies ace – ESL pays tribute Mirage graffiti
One of the ways legends are honored in CS: GO are via graffitis in-game. Coldzera was the first Brazilian to have his very own graffiti thanks to a standout 4k performance on Mirage.
But on the very same bombsite, several years later, FalleN also had a performance, one for the books. Fielding just the Dual Berettas on Mirage B bombsite, FalleN stopped 9z’s attack single-handedly. He got an ace with the duelis much to the crowd’s excitement.
ESL Brazil took to twitter to cretae their very own graffiti for FalleN, also on Mirage.
Unfortunately, FalleN’s heroics were not enough as Imperial still lost the map 11-16. A subsequent 0-2 loss to Cloud9 means FalleN and co. are out of the IEM Rio Major in the Challengers stage.
Regardless of what direction his life takes him, whether it’s away from the game or still involved in esports, FalleN will go down in history books as one of the game’s greatest.
While listing all of his achievements in Counter-Strike (across all versions of the game) will take quite some time, his recent achieevmnts have been nothign short of spectacular. The legendary player brought Brazil on the CS: GO map with a Major victory at MLG Columbus, taking down NAVI 2-0 in the finals, then with Luminosity Gaming. The roster was then picked up by SK Gaming and went on to win yet another Major, the ESL Cologne 2016. FalleN-led teams fell off the top tier CS: GO 2018 onwards but the past year has been a fantastic run for Imperial. They barely qualified to the Rio Major after a closely contested 2-1 victory over Complexity in the RMR event.
IEM Rio Major is currently underway in the Challengers Stage. 16 teams started the Challengers stage but only eight will move forward.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest CS: GO news and updates.
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