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FURIA Esports qualified for the Valorant Champions 2021 from South America VCT Last Chance Qualifiers (LCQ), and gave a tough competition to teams like Sentinels and KRU Esports in the Group Stage but unfortunately couldn't make it out.
The Brazilian Valorant team experienced their first international Valorant LAN at the Champions. FURIA Esports consists of players like Matheus "mazin" Araujo, Khalil "Khalil" Schmidt, Augustin "nozwerr" Ibarra, Alexandre "xand" Zizi, and Gabriel "quick" Lima.
Even though they didn't get out of the the group stage, the squad got to learn a lot from their experiences at Valorant Champions Berlin 2021.
FURIA Esport's Mazin on his experience at Valorant Champions 2021, and his vision for 2022
After their match against KRU Esports in the elimination match, Pratiti Dhang of Sportskeeda Esports had a chance to talk to FURIA Esports' Mazin about their match and experience at Valorant Champions 2021. He further revealed his vision for next year.
Here's an excerpt of the conversation.
Q: To start off, Fracture is the new map added to Valorant, and is played for few times in the champions. How confident were you and the team in going ahead with Fracture as the first map?
Mazin: It was actually a KRU’s choice, not our choice. But we are actually very comfortable playing in it because we've been practicing in it since Brazil, even though it's a new map.
Q: You are barely seen playing Breach but you picked him up today in Fracture. How effective do you think Breach is in Valorant's latest map?
Mazin: I think Breach is very impactful. It is very necessary to play him on this map, especially the way we are playing the game nowadays.
Q: Talking about the second map, Furia was leading initially till the 0-4. After that, KRU took the lead and became unbeatable. What went wrong in Ascent to lose that map?
Mazin: This is something that our team is known for. We start really strong, but we tend to get a little bit lost mid-game. We need to work on a lot of things, but this is something that we really need to address, even in Brazil.
And going forward, we need to look into this and become stronger next time.
Q: All the three Brazilian teams have had a remarkable performance at Champions so far. Do you believe after NA and EMEA, Brazil can also become a major region in Valorant esports?
Mazin: I think that in Brazil, we still have two teams in the run. And I think in this very Championship right now, we can still prove that Brazil deserves to be a major region such as NA and EMEA, who are really great this time.
Brazil has a chance to do boot camp here in Europe and the other two teams, Vivo Keyd and Vikings, also had a chance to play in Europe before. So I believe that even in this Championship, it is still possible that our teams can prove themselves.
Q: As I mentioned, the Brazilian teams have made a huge impact in the Valorant Champions. But, after the Vivo Keyd’s Cypher camera exploitation controversy against Acend, the Valorant community is divided into different opinions. You belong to the same region, what are your thoughts on this matter?
Mazin: I am on the side of Vivo Keyd. I believe that starting a game 7-0 is not the correct way to solve this problem. I do believe that Cypher’s camera bug exploit is wrong, but I don't believe that the punishment fits the crime in this situation.
But if Riot decides that, this is something we have to respect and move on with.
Q: This was your first-ever Valorant LAN. How was your experience in facing some of the top teams from different regions in the tournament?
Mazin: Now, I'm very happy we actually played internationally before on the LCQ, (Last Chance Qualifiers) but worldwide, this is the first time. It is something that is very rewarding and independent of being eliminated right now.
I feel very glad about our performance and with our evolution. And of course, I have been in international Championships before in other games, but this one is very nice, very rewarding and I'm looking forward to keep going.
Q: Lastly, what will be some of your key takeaways from the tournament and what do you and the team look forward to bringing in next year?
Mazin: Well, I believe the key takeaway I got from this Championships is that the results aren't everything and the focus of your team should be evolution. So I feel like we evolved so much in this Championship. I feel very confident about next year.
I feel like the most important thing that we will take is the fact that we should always do our best, always do the maximum possible, and always look for improvements. We need to have this growth mindset moving forward. Independent of the result or just wanting to win, we should always look forward to evolving and getting better in the game.
