Alliance are the Tipsport Conquest of Prague 2026 Finals champions. The Swedish squad dropped to the lower bracket after a 0:2 loss to EYEBALLERS in the upper final, then fought all the way back through the consolidation match and took the grand final 2:1 in a three-map Swedish derby that went the full distance on Sunday, May 24 in Prague.

The title run cements Alliance as one of the most interesting projects in European CS2 right now, and puts 16-year-old Liam “MaiL09” Tügel back in the spotlight at a time when Swedish Counter-Strike hasn’t had this much to talk about in years.

From 0:2 to Champions: How Alliance Survived Prague

Alliance opened the €30,000 LAN with a clean 2:0 sweep of Walczaki on Friday. The upper bracket final against EYEBALLERS on Saturday looked nothing like a competitive series: EYEBALLERS dismantled Alliance 13:8 on Nuke and 13:5 on Dust2, leaving no room for debate. Alliance dropped to the lower bracket, beat Walczaki again in the consolidation final, and earned the rematch.

The grand final on Sunday was a different series. Alliance picked Inferno, and the two rosters traded rounds for the entire regulation and deep into overtime. Neither team led by more than a couple of rounds at any point. eraa and avid carried Alliance through 18 overtime rounds to close it out 22:20.

EYEBALLERS responded with a dominant 13:5 on their Overpass pick, leveling the series. dex posted a +6.90% round swing and a 1.80 rating on that map, while maxster added a +7.29% swing and a 1.54 rating. For 30 minutes, it looked like EYEBALLERS had the momentum to close.

Ancient decided it all. The teams split the first half 6:6, and Alliance took the CT pistol to grab momentum. MaiL09 delivered when it mattered most: a 1.65 rating on the decider map, finishing with the highest individual scoreline in the final series as Alliance closed it 13:9.

eraa finished as Alliance’s highest-rated player across the entire event at 1.29 over 9 maps. EYEBALLERS’ maxster led all players at the tournament with a 1.37 rating across 8 maps, earning HLTV’s Player of the Week nod despite finishing second.

MaiL09 Is Delivering on Six Bold Predictions

MaiL09 joined Alliance on loan from Metizport on January 22, 2026, and his trajectory since has been steep. He currently sits at #7 in HLTV’s Prospects ranking for May 2026, climbing steadily from #39 in January, to the top 30 in March, and now firmly inside the top 10. His 1.18 LAN rating over the last three months backs up what six HLTV Top 20 players predicted at the start of the year: NiKo, XANTARES, Spinx, frozen, flameZ, and ropz all named MaiL09 as their bold prediction breakout player for 2026.

Before any of those predictions, MaiL09 had already made noise by setting the all-time FACEIT ELO record at 5,415, beating donk’s previous mark of 5,350 in late 2025. FACEIT even changed their prospect formula partly to account for players like him dominating the platform before accumulating a large official sample.

The Prague title is his first LAN trophy. He is 16 years old.

Two Swedish Rosters, One Shared Problem

Alliance and EYEBALLERS are the two best Swedish CS2 teams right now, ranked #26 and #30 on HLTV respectively. Both rosters are built on different philosophies but draw from the same national talent pool, and both have produced prospects who landed in HLTV’s top 10 this month.

Alex “poiii” Nyholm Sundgren started at EYEBALLERS, moved to Alliance in mid-2025 where he starred as one of the team’s top fraggers, and was acquired by 100 Thieves in January 2026. He now sits inside the top 10 of the HLTV Prospects ranking alongside his former teammate MaiL09. The pipeline from Swedish Tier 2 to international rosters is open, and both Alliance and EYEBALLERS are feeding it.

EYEBALLERS field JW, a veteran with over a decade of top-level experience, alongside younger players like maxster, dex, bobeksde, and Ro1f, with pita coaching. Alliance counter with twist, another Swedish CS legend at 31, supported by eraa, avid, upE, and the 16-year-old on loan. The contrast between the two rosters gives the rivalry texture: EYEBALLERS lean on maxster’s consistency and JW’s experience; Alliance lean on eraa’s AWP and MaiL09’s upside.

The Swedish derby in Prague is the kind of matchup that used to happen at the top of CS when NiP and Fnatic were trading Major finals. The level is different, but the intensity of a 22:20 overtime on Inferno between two all-Swedish squads says something about where these teams are headed.

What Comes Next for Alliance

MaiL09’s loan from Metizport runs through June 30. Alliance will need to negotiate a permanent deal if they want to keep him, and Metizport will need to decide what MaiL09 is worth on the open market after a Prospects climb from #39 to #7 and a LAN title in five months. The IEM Cologne Major 2026 starts on June 2, and Alliance are not among the invited teams, though their recent results could affect future qualification paths.

For now, the numbers tell the story. MaiL09 is climbing the Prospects ranking faster than almost anyone in the current cycle. Swedish CS2 has two competitive rosters producing players that international teams want to buy.

Prague was a €30,000 B-Tier event. The next step is proving this works at a higher level.