“Does this mean you’re no longer the only Swiss player to make it to the Legends Stage?” asked CS:GO analyst Jacob “Pimp” Winneche to his colleague Mathieu “Maniac” Quiquerez last night. “No, actually, not anymore!”

A few minutes earlier, the guys from Bad News Eagles, including Swiss player Rigon “rigoN” Gashi, managed to pull off the win against Brazilian team MIBR. With this they make it to the playoffs at the PGL Major Antwerp, the so called Legends Stage. Rigon is only the second Swiss player in CS:GO history to make it this far. Previously, it was only Maniac, who is now an analyst at the PGL Major and of course immediately welcomed Rigon after his victory.

The past and the future. Congratulations @rigoNcs to you and your teammates ❤️

– Maniac (@Maniac_CSGO) May 12, 2022

A legendary mindset

Already last week we wanted to know from Maniac what he thinks about Bad News Eagles’ chances in Antwerp. “They obviously have a lot of skill,” Maniac said at the time, but also pointed out that rigoN, in particular, had yet to get the best out of himself. He would have to prepare accordingly for success at the major. That’s what rigoN has done now, as he tells in the post-game interview: “Normally I don’t really pay attention to my stats and more to what the team needs. But at this Major I made an effort to pay a little more attention to my individual performance.”

That seemed to work, because at the end of the match against MIBR, it was Rigon who performed particularly well. The Eagles also spent a lot of time on that in recent months. “We practiced six days a week for eight hours. Only on Sunday did we take time off. ” Above all, the mental preparation was also important, he said. Coach Klesti “stikle-” Kola had recognized that rigoN could quickly lose himself in his emotions and addressed him on it, he said. “This time I tried to restrain myself a little and above all not to be too hard on myself, but to support my team when I wasn’t happy with my performance.”

Legends in two countries

The success of the Bad News Eagles – apart from the players, of course – is very significant for two countries at once. In Switzerland, Rigon Gashi will go down in the history books, and in Kosovo, the Bad News Eagles as a whole. They are the first Kosovar team to make it to a major – and then at least to the Legends Stage. What’s also special is that ESD is not part of any larger eSports organization, but is an independent team.

This makes them the last ones at the PGL Major who don’t have a big organization behind them.

– PGL (@pglesports) May 12, 2022

Now it gets tough

This also means that from now on it will be especially hard for Bad News Eagles. Next on the program is the match against Copenhagen Flames. They qualified for the Major in the same tournament as Bad News Eagles. Only they could finish the tournament on the first place. With this they secured themselves a place in the Legends Stage.

For the Flames, it also means that they haven’t had to play a single game in Antwerp yet. Saturday, May 14 at 12:00 play they will play the first time against the Bad News Eagles.

A direct comparison is difficult because the two teams did not meet at the Regional Major Rankings. The only clue is that BNE lost in the first round of the Rankings to Ninjas in Pyjamas, who were later beaten by Copenhagen Flames.

Comparisons based on past performances is very difficult with Bad News Eagles now anyway. Because the team has probably never played as well as they did this week.

What we are seeing now from Antwerp is the next level of the still young team. They are now the Bad News Eagles with legend status. This could be bad news for upcoming opponents.

You don’t want to miss the first game of rigoN and the Bad News Eagles! You can watch it live on PGL’s B-Stream on Twitch from 12:00 on May 14.