Team Falcons has called up Matej ‘NucleonZ‘ Trajkoski from its academy roster to compete in the BLAST Bounty Season 1 playoffs.
The change to the Saudi-Arabian esports organisation’s Counter-Strike 2 roster comes as a result of Maksim ‘kyousuke‘ Lukin encountering “unresolved visa complications.”
Update 19/01/2026: This article has been updated with further information on Team Falcons coach Danny ‘zonic Sørensen’s absence from the BLAST Bounty Season 1 playoffs.
Announced on social media, NucleonZ makes his Tier 1 debut at the BLAST Bounty playoffs. The 18-year-old rifler joins as a stand-in, after Team Falcons breezed through the closed qualifiers with 2-0 victories over ECSTATIC and Monte to secure one of eight places at the LAN finals in Malta.
NucleonZ has competed as part of the Team Falcons academy roster since it was unveiled in September 2025. In November 2025, the team competed in the Red Bull Gibaway Journey tournament, scoring a top-20 finish after ending its Group Stage campaign with a 1-4 record.
“NucleonZ has demonstrated consistent growth and strong performances within our academy system, and this opportunity reflects the trust we place in our academy program,” said Team Falcons following the announcement.
Falcons isn’t the only organisation competing at BLAST Bounty to encounter visa issues in recent weeks. On January 13th, HEROIC revealed Älımjan “Alkaren” Bıtımbai will miss the start of the season. Despite this, the Norwegian organisation has secured a place in the BLAST Bounty playoffs.
Further Absences
In addition to kyousuke missing out on the BLAST Bounty playoffs, Team Falcons coach Danny ‘zonic‘ Sørensen will also miss the event.
Zonic has returned to his family following the passing of his brother. “Tough times, but I’ll try to be back as soon as I can. Proud of the boys for qualifying for Malta,” he wrote on social media.
The organisation hasn’t revealed whether assistant coach Aymein ‘Aymeinstein‘ Bencheick will step into Zonic’s role in his absence.
Team Falcons in 2026
Currently ranked third in the Valve Regional Standings (VRS), a strong showing at the BLAST Bounty playoffs cements Falcons as one of the world’s best Counter-Strike 2 teams in the early stages of 2026.
Having played the closed qualifiers with kyousuke on the starting lineup, it will be interesting to see how quickly the team can gel with NucleonZ, who has no experience competing in Tier 1 tournaments.
The BLAST Bounty Season 1 2026 playoffs take place from January 22nd to 25th. With Team Falcons having one of the highest seeds for the tournament, it gets the opportunity to select its opponent for its quarter-final match.
