After a strong showing at ESL Challenger League Season 40, the French squad has found a permanent home. Falcons, a Saudi-based esports organization, announced the signing of the Akimbo roster today via their Twitter account. The roster famously features ex-Vitality player Jayson “Kyojin” Nguyen Van, who left that team last year after struggling to perform individually. The roster now representing Falcons came together early in 2022 after LDLC had dropped their entire squad following an underwhelming previous year; Bryan “Maka” Canda, Nicolas “Keoz” Dgus, Ali “hAdji” Hainouss and Steeve “Ozstrik3r” Flavigni all represented the French organization for the majority of 2021. Adding Jordan “Python” Munck-Foehrle, who featured for Unicorns of Love last year, and Kyojin, the team played the recent ESL Challenger League and impressed, picking up series wins over Copenhagen Flames and HEET. 

The Falcons roster is: Jayson “Kyojin” Nguyen Van, Ali “hAdji” Hainouss, Jordan “Python” Munck-Foehrle, Bryan “Maka” Canada, Nicolas “Keoz” Dgus. Their current world ranking is #54, alongside with the average player age for the team being 23.1. Kyojin’s time on Vitality proved fruitful right until the end. With the 22 year old posting a 68.3% round contribution during his time with the then French squad, but ultimately falling short with his rating decreasing to a 0.87 right before his release from Vitality. hAdji has also had a very solid history in terms of performance with previous rosters, but also had a similar ending with Kyojin. 

Kyojin has also helped Vitality to victories over very solid opponents. Back in the BLAST Premier World Final 2021, he helped the French Organization to wins over the likes of Astralis and G2 Esports. hAdji has also had a history of establishment within the French CS:GO scene, for his stints with organizations such as Team LDLC and Envy/EnVyUs. While he has helped those rosters to victories, he has still yet to be proven on LAN. Regardless the lineup for Falcons features a solid duo of experience and youth that should make for a solid performance at tournaments. Don’t be surprised if this teams manages to qualify for some pretty big tournaments, and leave a strong impression while they’re there.