guerri: "I believe we can play good CS here in the US"
I wanted to talk about your move to Miami. Tell me a bit about what prompted that move and what you are looking to do over here.
We played a lot of tournaments in Brazil. We put together the team in February and we practiced a lot for two months, and then we started the tournaments. We had a good run, with a lot of tournaments in two months, and we had a lot of good results. I think we played 14 tournaments and we reached the final in all of them. This run in Brazil made us think that we can play in the United States. In Brazil, we do not have that many opportunities, like qualifiers, DreamHacks, IEMs, whereas here, in the US, we can play a lot of open qualifiers and become a better team. We will go to Miami after the Minor, we want to play every qualifier, play ESEA, CEVO, every tournament… We do not want to rest, we want to grow as a team, we have been practicing against other teams today here, and I am sure that tier 2 teams here are better than the ones in Brazil. We are so happy to be playing at ZOTAC and at the Minor. The Minors are a dream for every new team, so we are happy.
Touching on those leagues back in Brazil. Brazilian players have a lot more opportunities nowadays, even locally. Do you think the Brazilian scene has reached a point where we can start seeing multiple teams on an international stage at the same time?
I am sure you will see more Brazilian teams play against tier 1, tier 2 teams all over the world. With us no longer in Brazil, other teams could reach more finals in tournaments. I do not want to sound cocky, but we had a good run there and I am sure that we will see more Brazilian teams out there.
I was reading a twitlonger with the whole history of the team. In it, you touched a lot on how you had a couple of roster swaps after some lacklustre results. With that, you moved to a coaching position. How has that been for you, and what is your role in the team?
Last year, we reached a lot of finals but we had a lot of second places. The atmosphere in the team became difficult because some team members did not know hot to lose, and for me it was a turning point. I am a bit old to be playing, I am 28 years old, and I think a lot of young players have reached a level that I cannot reach. Moving to a coaching position was hard for me at the beginning, but I liked it a lot, I think I can make a difference. My players are like my children. I am very happy to be playing this role, I feel very comfortable in it, I can help each one of my players to evolve and I think that I did a good job while we were in Brazil, and now we have another challenge ahead of us. Our first times in the US will be difficult, but we are looking forward to it, we are here to do this.
How has it been with this roster in terms of bouncing back from losses?
I was the captain of the old team, and I was sacrificing my individual game because I was doing the kind of things that the others did not want to do. Back then, we did not have one person that everyone listened to. Some of them listened to me, but I had troubles with other players. That is why we did not stick together for long. Now, everyone listens to me, and I have no doubts when I say that I am their leader, and I like to do this. I know how to say tough things to them, they really listen to me, and this is why we can lose more tournaments and still stick together. We have built a family, and that is our strength. We all react to our losses differently, some of us feel them more than others. These guys are very young, and I think I can pass my life experience to them.
yuurih and kscerato are two of the most promising players coming out of Brazil. Do you think this sort of players need more international experience to blossom more?
Yes, yuurih and kscerato are two young stars, they are insane in-game, I watch them all day long and I can say with no doubt that they will be star players on a global level. Brazil has a lot of talented players, but it is difficult to have opportunities like here. There is no investment, no structure... We had an opportunity with FURIA and we grabbed it. I think arT is our key player, he is our captain and his style surprises a lot of people, he is like fer. I think yuurih and kscerato do not make that many mistakes, that is why they are shining right now.
Now that you are getting the opportunity to compete in North America, do you thin now is the chance for your lineup to start shining from all the experience that you are going to get?
Yes, my players need to have more tough losses to get more experience. Teams here are more structured, they have more investment behind. We are practicing now against tier 2 teams, they are strong, I have a good feeling about facing tier 1 teams because we can surprise them, our style is unique, I have not seen many teams play like we do. It does not mean that we are the best or anything, but I believe we can play very good CS here, in the US.
When I came in, I saw you were watching a demo. Do you watch demos a lot, and are there teams you watch more for their style?
We like a lot of good teams from around the world. Today, we watched demos from NA teams because of this tournament and the Minor. I watch a lot of demos because I am the coach, but I also make my players watch them because they need to live CS, we need to grab this opportunity with all our strength. In Brazil, we lived in a gaming house. We had a lot of time, so I had to make a schedule for every day, and I made them follow the rules. I do not want my players to be in a comfort zone.
Speaking of the Minor and playing the teams here that you will face in London, where NTC will also be competing. What are your expectations for both events?
My expectations are good because of our style and because we are a new team, I think it is hard for top teams to respect us, and we can take advantage of that. I think things will be harder at the Minor than here, but I have a good feeling for these two tournaments. I want to win more than anything, my players do, too, we will do whatever it takes to win. We can surprise a lot.
