arT: "guerri cannot join us in the Major because of the dumb Valve rule"

Furia came into the Americas RMR as the top seed. They were likely favorites against their NA and SA competition, but the question stood if they would be able to cement themselves as the best this side of the Atlantic. After a flawless six maps in the RMR, they proved just so. Dust2.us' Dafydd Gywnn caught up with Andrei "arT" Piovezan just after securing Legends status at the PGL Antwerp Major to reflect on the team and what it meant for them to claim first prize.

You've now qualified for the Legends stage at the Major, how much does it mean to you and the guys?

Wooo. It's one of the most important tournaments of the year or even the last two years since COVID started, so qualifying for us and even making Legends was our main goal since the last Major. So since the last Major, we have been focusing on this moment right now, and we have now achieved it.

There was a lot of discussion about the AWPer's role and how's it been passed between you and KSCERATO. Now you have a dedicated AWPer in saffee, how does that affect your playstyle?

I would say it changes everything. I can feel way more comfortable doing my own stuff, getting information and space. When I do a play and it succeeds, it's way easier to convert the round when we have an AWPer on our team, but if I don't succeed, it's still a very winnable round because I got the information, I got the space, and even got the timings and now we have an AWPer to support finishing the round.

Communication is always important in a team, so with saffee being a new player, how well has he integrated into the team?

saffee is a very easy going guy, he's fully committed in the game so it's very easy to deal with him, absolutely no problems at all. He's also a very perceptive person and a very talkable person and he doesn't mind doing stuff like dropping AK's or not playing AWP on certain maps. He's learning now to play with AK on T-side on some maps, so he's slowly becoming more FURIA.

You had drop at the last Major, how much has he developed in the time between then to now?

Yeah, drop is a different case from saffee because he wasn't playing on any team. He had zero experience outside of Brazil and that definitely has an impact on how he knows the game. He's had that process of learning how things work, the setups, the rotations, and the pace of the game. He has been learning a lot. Right now, in the last two tournaments we've played, he's feeling way more comfortable with his positions and within the team. So he's feeling confident to do his own stuff, he's also understanding what's happening on the maps, so he knows what to do in situations that before he didn't. He has learned a lot and still has a lot of room to improve.

How easy is it to IGL him?

He actually talks a lot which is surprising for a very young guy who's new to the team, you would kind of expect him to be like a quiet kid but he's the other way around. If you watch the games you can notice that he is the one who is screaming more, he is hyped more. So he feels a lot of the game, he's right now the most focused guy on the team along with saffee. It's very nice for us to have these two guys completing the roster in such a way.

How important is it to have that guy screaming and shouting?

It's very nice because sometimes the game is tense and the match is very even, when you have a guy who is popping off and screaming and having the vibes up, it helps a lot. Sometimes I try to do it but often I forget because I am too focused on the game. I am trying to think about everything, so I sometimes forget to do that kind of stuff but drop is always reminding me. When he screams I remember I have to scream, and we scream together. So it's a very nice vibe.

Speaking of screaming, in that match against MIBR, we heard you screaming occasionally. What were you saying to those guys?

It's just in-game stuff because we like the MIBR players. We are friends outside of the game and they are screaming every match they've played too. I couldn't even hear what they were screaming that game, but they were screaming a lot of in-game stuff, calling us noobs which is normal. So we were just throwing it back, calling them noobs as well, taunting them to enter a site, just fooling around and playing mind games.

How do you think MIBR played in this game?

I feel like they had a very strong strategy going on. I felt on Nuke that they played very differently on CT-side than they used to, and they also tried to pressure a lot on A site. We had to adapt to that. So they definitely had a plan going on, I feel like their mid-round decision was kind of poor, and that's why we managed to get such a lead on both maps. CT-side is also way easier to play on both sides than T-side, Overpass I won't even count because it's so hard to play T-side. It depends on one or two key rounds to put the match in their favor, but they never got such a round. CT-side is very easy, when you don't leave any gaps and are playing well like my teammates were. For example, saffee and Yuurih were shutting down A . It was very nice to watch. So MIBR never really got a chance to play on Overpass. On Nuke I would say it was kind of the same thing, they started off really well, they were screaming, they were putting pressure on the map, they are doing their own stuff, it was very nice and they almost got a very nice CT-half. But in the midrounds, we managed to outplay them and got a good T-side to finish the half. When we went to CT-side we won pistol and there was just a snowball after that.

Just to take you back to your game against Complexity, right before that game I was able to speak to junior and he said that it was destiny they would meet you. So how do you feel about that game against Junior and Complexity?

For me, personally, I don't think there is any difference in whoever we are facing but definitely, there is something happening in the game. The pressure is higher and there are more things at stake than just the map. There is ego and he's an old teammate so there is more happening, but I don't feel it. But I know that the vibe overall is different than a match like today which is more friendly. We know MIBR, we are friends with them, whereas with Complexity, we know we need to beat them because if they beat us it's going to be weird. It's a different vibe. We noted that Complexity is very strong. They are the strongest team that we faced in this tournament, they are very close or even with MIBR, but right now I would say that Complexity was the best team that we faced at this tournament. That was our hardest challenge. There was a lot at stake because if we didn't win that game, then we had no chance to qualify as Legends. The Major spot was in play too.

You have tacitus stood behind you instead of guerri at the moment, what's the difference in having him there?

Since guerri cannot join us in the Major because of the dumb Valve rule, I would say that tacitus is filling the role of guerri as a coach behind us. I would say that the main difference between them is that guerri is more of a personal coach, he's in the game with us, he has the vibes, he knows how to hype us up and he can see things in a personal way. tacitus is more of a strategy coach, he's an analyst for the team so that's his main function. So trying to fill the gap of guerri is very hard on him.

The last thing I'm gonna say is South America has done well at this event. Is there anything you want to say to all the fans out there who have been supporting you?

Mano, só queria agradecer todo mundo pela torcida, parabenizar. Que vocês prestigiem os times brasileiros sem ser a FURIA, porque deu para ver nesse major que a gente tem muita força, que temos qualidade para jogar com os times americanos. Os times que jogaram hoje surpreenderam muitos times, foi por pouco que alguns não passaram melhores do que eles estão agora. Queria parabenizar aos times que jogaram, não sei quem se classificou ainda, mas até agora MIBR e Imperial, três times brasileiros no major, queria dar esse parabéns para todos os times que estão aí batalhando por essas vagas, é o nosso sonho, e agradecer ao apoio dos fãs, que são sempre impecáveis, vocês são muito foda, e agradecer também a nossa família, a minha namorada, meus amigos, por estarem sempre nos apoiando e dando o suporte para focar no CS.

I just wanted to thank everybody for supporting us. I hope you honor BR teams other than FURIA, because you could see in this Major we have a lot of strength and when we were playing against American teams, we have loads of quality in Brazil. The teams playing today surprised a lot of teams. It was close for a few teams that didn't perform to their capabilities. I just want to congratulate all the teams that played, I don't know who qualified yet, but at the moment MIBR and Imperial, so we have at least 3 BR teams in the Major. I want to congratulate all the teams that are competing for a spot, that means a lot to us, it is a dream. Thank you to the fans for the impeccable support, you guys are amazing. And thank you to my family mainly, for always supporting me, family, girlfriend and friends, always by my side, helping me focus on CS. That's it, thank you.