arT: "There is some truth to some of the things they say, but 90% is bullshit"

The Brazilians have come into IEM Chengdu following a less than stellar Major performance in Copenhagen. FURIA were able to salvage an Elimination Stage appearance despite going down 0-2 to start off the event, but would find themselves falling 0-3 once they reached the Top 16. Losses against Legacy, Lynn Vision, and ECSTATIC were bitter pills to swallow as fans hoped for another playoff appearance from the Panthers.

While the start in Copenhagen wasn't the best, their time in China has been. FURIA were able to avenge their loss against Lynn Vision in Denmark by beating them in their home nation and secured a crucial victory over MOUZ to put themselves in contention for a top four placement at IEM Chengdu.

Following the match against Lynn Vision, Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan spoke to Luis Mira from HLTV to talk about the pressure the team is under to perform, criticism from the public, and the necessity of bouncing back here in China.

Below are snippets of the interview, however you can find the full conversation on HLTV.

After the loss to ECSTATIC, Akkari said that FURIA could be ready to act. Do you feel that pressure on the team to perform and get better results?

We know the pressure we're under, we know the fans we have and we know how important it is to perform. We try to play as best as we can, fix as many mistakes as possible and focus on the next match. You can't think too much about what's happening outside, because CS is a mental game, if you take in too much information from the outside, if you listen to those who don't know about CS, it's always going to mess with your mental game, so the important thing is to distance yourself from that, practice with the team, play with the team, because what matters is what happens on the server, the five of us, playing as well as possible in order to win.

After the Major, many were praising paiN and Imperial, but many were also saying that FURIA doesn't play good, structured CS. How do you deal with that criticism from analysts and pundits?

I think that, in general, people talk a lot of shit. That's the truth. There is some truth to some of the things they say, but 90% is bullshit. We know the things we're doing wrong, we're practicing every day. We know what they're saying, but we try to ignore it because most of it is just unfounded criticism, it's the media. I see a lot of articles about things that make no sense, just to generate clicks. I try to ignore it as much as possible because what matters is what happens on the server.

And how do you deal with the criticism from the fans? Are you still confident that you're on the right track?

Yes, yes. We know that CS comes down to details. We know that the difference between 3-2 and 0-3 at a Major is very small. We were 0-2 and we know the difference from that to being 3-2. The small details are important and make all the difference. Two rounds can change a whole game, so you know that, [when you're in that situation], you're not that far off that you can't simply change some things and do well. Today, for example, we lost a 2vs5, and it completely changed the flow as CT, it changed the half completely. Then, as T, you lose a round and you're in a difficult situation to get back in terms of economy. We know how close CS2 is, with the MR12.

After dropping a close series against MOUZ, FURIA will take on HEROIC in the lower bracket to stay alive in Chengdu.