📝 Twisted Minds vs. Team Falcons Full Match Recap

The second semifinal of the Stockholm World Finals featured a battle of regional titans: EMEA champions Twisted Minds versus Korea’s second seed and reigning Midseason Champions, Team Falcons.

Twisted Minds entered the match riding a wave of confidence, they had already reverse-swept Korea’s third seed, T1, in a brutal showdown on Thursday, and their regional rivals, Al Qadsiah, had just handed Korea’s champions, Crazy Raccoon, a ticket to the lower bracket. For EMEA, the message was clear: Korea could bleed.

But Team Falcons are no strangers to deep tournament runs. Their team only grows stronger the deeper they run in a tournament, and in the Midseason Championship, they 4-0’d Al Qadsiah, Twisted Minds’ biggest rivals. Yet the cracks in their game had begun to show in Stockholm; they dropped maps to VARREL and Team Liquid, opening a rare window of vulnerability that Twisted Minds were determined to exploit.

Map 1: Busan (Twisted Minds pick), Twisted Minds ban Zarya, Team Falcons ban Mercy

Busan opened on Downtown, with Twisted Minds rolling out their signature Symmetra comp, Ahmad “Youbi” Alyoubi on Sym, Ibrahem “Quartz” Alali on Sojourn, the Kiriko/Lucio backline, and Abdualziz “TVNT” Altmimi on D.Va. Falcons mirrored most of the look with Choi “Hanbin” Han-been on D.Va and Kim “Proper” Dong-hyun on Tracer.

Twisted Minds struck first, securing the early capture after winning the initial scrap. Falcons tried to respond, but a mistimed Kitsune Rush from Kwon “Fielder” Joon swung the momentum sharply back in EMEA’s favour. Twisted Minds closed out the round with a massive play from TVNT, who remeched onto both Hanbin and Han “ChiYo” Hyeon-seok before cleaning up the rest.

On Shrine, Twisted Minds only tightened their grip. Their trademark high-risk, high-reward aggression smothered Falcons from every angle. Falcons never found a stable footing, constantly reacting rather than dictating. Twisted Minds repelled every push, taking Busan 2-0, and claiming a confident early series lead.

Map 2: Dorado (Team Falcons pick), Twisted Minds ban Wuyang, Team Falcons ban Symmetra

Falcons immediately go for the Symmetra ban, aiming to destabilise Twisted Minds’ best composition. Choi “MER1T” Tae-min swapped to Ashe, Proper onto Echo, and ChiYo to Brigitte. The Symmetra ban forced Twisted Minds off their comfort: Youbi onto Tracer, Quartz onto Freja.

Twisted Minds started on attack with a slow, methodical push. Falcons ceded ground early, poking safely until they finally ramped up the pressure towards the end of the first point. Twisted eventually secured the cap, but their lack of vertical mobility slowed down their progress as they approached second. After a crucial fight win, Falcons put on a massive stagger on TVNT, draining valuable time and momentum. The stall proved decisive, and Twisted Minds never managed to cap the 2nd point.

On defence, Twisted Minds adjusted: Proper moved to Genji, Quartz back to Sojourn, and Youbi onto Mei. Falcons capped first with ease, and though Twisted briefly halted their push, everything reset once Proper brought out the Dragonblade. Falcons threatened to snowball, but Twisted Minds’ discipline shone; they used minimal ultimates to stop multiple Falcons attacks and built up a major economy advantage over the Koreans.

That patience paid off in the final fight. Despite the Falcons landing a huge opening pick on TVNT, Twisted Minds had the better bank. Layered multiple ults to keep themselves alive, Quartz delivered another Sojourn masterclass, and Twisted Minds secured Dorado to go up 2-0, winning even on what was supposed to be their weakest look.

Map 3: King’s Row (Team Falcons pick), Twisted Minds ban Venture, Team Falcons ban D.Va

Twisted Minds banned Venture to lean fully into the Symmetra, clearly hunting for the 3-0 sweep. Falcons subbed in Ham “SOMEONE” Jeong-wan to play Ramattra, with MER1T on Sojourn and Proper on Echo, while Twisted Minds mirrored the comp with Youbi locking Sym.

What followed was pure domination. Twisted Minds bulldozed through all of King’s Row in one unstoppable surge. Rammatra, Symmetra, and Quartz’s Sojourn tore through Falcons like a hot knife through butter. They pushed Falcons all the way to their spawn and completed the map with over three and a half minutes still in the bank.

With the series on the line, the Falcons mirrored Symmetra on attack in a last-ditch effort to claw back. Twisted’s defence held firm, but Falcons eventually broke through after more than two minutes of attempts. A small spark emerged as Falcons pushed close to the final choke… until Quartz shut the door. In two back-to-back, fight-defining plays, he dismantled the entire Falcons roster, ending the push and sealing the clean 3-0 sweep.

After the win, Twisted Minds' damage, Youbi reflected confidently:

"We really thought that we would win 3-0, cause we scrimmed Falcons 6-0, so the game was really good. I'm really happy that we're the first team in MENA that beat Crazy Raccoon, Team Falcons, and T1 out of Korea."

Quartz added perspective on the parity across Korea and EMEA:

"Korea's still better than us, but the gap is closing. The gap used to be very big in the past, but now it is kinda closing, yeah."

With this victory, Twisted Minds join their regional rivals, Al Qadsiah, in the winners' bracket finals, guaranteeing an EMEA representative in the Grand Finals on Sunday.