FalleN: "We have had to reinvent ourselves; I believe we can be very competitive and challenge for titles"

In the second of our exclusive two-part interview with Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo, we spoke to the MIBR veteran about the team's recent struggles, taking the reins once again and his expectations for the rest of 2018.

The first part of the interview, conducted during the team's recent bootcamp in Lisbon for Moche XL Esports, was released on Saturday and provided insight into the decision to leave SK Gaming and embark on a new adventure with Made in Brazil, a brand now owned by North American organisation Immortals.

In part two, we discuss more practical matters with the 27-year-old, including the team's recent results with Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip on board, the issues stemming from having to communicate in a different language and his thoughts about the state of the roster. FalleN also explains why he is once again the in-game leader after handing over the mantle to Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David.

Offline results have been mixed since replacing TACO. How do you evaluate these first months with Stewie?

The truth is that, if I look back to see how things have been going, I think that these results coincide with a period of readaptation. Even if we had kept TACO, I think this period would still have happened. The readaptation was needed because other teams have caught up with us and have been playing, in a way, better than we have, so they deserve the results they have been getting, and we have had to reinvent ourselves. Besides this challenge, we also started communicating in a new language and we have a new player, which is always something very troublesome, sometimes it works out quickly, sometimes it takes longer, but I make a very positive evaluation of this period. I think we are finally getting to a point where the language barrier is almost broken, we are getting comfortable speaking in this new language, there have been moments when we have suffered a bit with this, especially during tense moments in the game, when you have a lot in your mind, you are really stressed and you need to communicate quickly, and sometimes you did not understand what the other guy was saying. But we are finally feeling in the game that it is no longer a factor. We are starting to be able to focus on the tactical work and on perfecting those things so that we can start performing well at the big events. These last few months were positive, but we thought the transition from Portuguese to English would be easier, we were a bit surprised and realised we would have to work hard. But everyone is handling it very well, our mental game is very good, we have gone through ups and downs, but, in general, everyone is working hard for us to win again.

There have been some changes since Stewie’s arrival. coldzera is now helping you lead in-game, Stewie himself said that he led in Kiev on Mirage. How prepared is the team right now? What do you still have left to do?

I think that, first of all, we need to figure out this matter about in-game leadership. This is something that we recently addressed here in Portugal. We had a new talk about that. I thought it was really cool that cold and Stewie helped with that, because it was during a moment when I was not doing that job that well, and they came in with fresh ideas that really helped. And you can see that we had better results with these changes. But here in Portugal, we decided to go back to me leading the team. The thing of one person leading, then another person leading, then another person coming in with an idea…

It is a mess, no?

Sometimes it simply gets in the way. The leader needs to grow within the team, and that comes with work. What I told the team was that it did not have to be me, it could be cold, Stewie, boltz or fer, but we needed to choose one person and trust his work, his methods and strategies, and that the players needed to stick together, whether we win or lose. During a match, we have to trust what that person will do, even if things are tough. That is what we always did in the past, and it helped us succeed and improve quickly, so we are now working the same way as before, and the guys are trusting my vision of how we are going to practise and play the game. Of course I really listen to what they have to say, when we are preparing our strategies everyone is free to give their input, but when we are in a match someone has to make the calls, and that person now is me.

On all maps, in all situations?

On all maps, in all situations. During a match, the players will only speak if they are asked something. ‘Guys, I am running out of ideas, does anyone have any suggestions?’ ‘FalleN, we forgot to do that thing and it could really work now’. Things like that. Otherwise, winning or losing, I am the one responsible for leading the team, and the guys have to trust me. If we lose, we lose together. If we win, it is everybody’s merit.

From 0 to 100, how is the team right now?

I see the team at 75 per cent. There are some things that we can improve. I think that fer and I still need to bring back our stellar game from previous years, while cold keeps playing very well and remains decisive. I see bolt and Stewie playing well, and I say these things I am not talking about statistics or anything like that. We only judge what happens in matches, so when we are going over matches we are not going to look at who had the most or the least kills but who stopped doing something that we knew was the right thing to do, who screwed up due to a misfortunate or due to a lucky shot, or who is not doing what we practised. We only judge what we do in practice and in the matches, so I think the team has been doing really well. We have been doing in matches what we have been practising, which is important, we head into matches and we execute what we prepared. Many times those things do not work or simply are not enough, and we adapt them so that they can work next time around.

What about the issue that you raised about leading really hurting your individual game since opponents could read you and anticipate what you were going to do?

I think it is all a matter of perspective, and I think my feeling at the time about that was a bit wrong. Sometimes I think they know what I am thinking, but, in reality, they may not know. I think in some moments they do, just like we can read some teams. But the idea of them reading everything that I am going to do is not really true, and the conclusion that I reached after this reflection period was that the way we prepared had to change, that we had to bring new things and to trust that these things are indeed new and that our opponents do not know them. Even if they are not new, we need to execute them correctly for us to win rounds. I feel that, in terms of leadership and captaincy, I am confident and looking forward to our next events to see if it will work, but, as a player, I need to perform better, I think I have what it takes to do better and play the way I did in the previous years, but I do not think that much about it, I think it will come naturally. I should not be thinking, ’Gosh, I should be playing better’, what I need to think is that I need to do the best that I can do at the moment, and that is what I have been doing.

So far, just one title with this new roster, in Russia. What are the team’s goals for the rest of the year?

Our goals are to improve as a team, break the language barrier once and for all and try to be once again a team that can challenge for titles. Victories will be the result of our work, and what I keep telling the guys is that we cannot demand results, we never really know if we are going to win or not. What we can do is commit ourselves to working so that results will appear. We have to motivate each other to be dedicated on a daily basis, to respect our schedule, to study the game, to pay attention to the things we are preparing and to practice well, and we are doing all those things really well.

Looking at your team, is this the perfect team? Do you rule out making changes?

The team I am part of is always the ideal one for me. I have to believe I have the right people by my side; otherwise, I will not have the motivation to start a work day. I do believe that this team has the conditions to be very competitive and to win titles. I trust the skills of everyone here. It is logical that there needs to be some individual improvement from some of the players, including myself, and only teamwork will bring that.

Your exit from LG to SK was a bit turbulent, and the same can now be said of our exit from SK. Are you a difficult team to deal with?

I think it is a bit of a cultural question. We, Brazilians, are very passionate about what we do, and many times we make emotional decisions, instead of rational ones. That makes some things fall outside of what is expected of us and of what is politically correct. We always act according to what we think is correct and what is fairest for everyone, that is what happened with LG and that is what is happening with SK. I do not think our exit from SK is anything similar to what happened when we joined. We are leaving with our heads held high, everyone did a good job, and, with the exception of this last month, when we did not like one or two things, the work was really well done, so I do not think those two situations are alike.