VINI: "When we play against Brazilians they know a lot more of what we are doing"

We spoke with Vinicius "⁠VINI⁠" Figueiredo following his team's victories over eUnited and Luminosity, which saw FURIA advance to the playoffs at the Americas Minor.

FURIA suffered an upset defeat in the opening game of the tournament, losing the BO1 to INTZ, but bounced back and won two BO3s to advance to the playoffs, where they will meet NRG.

In our interview, we discussed VINI's usage of the AUG, his impressive showing in Texas, and the games against domestic opposition in Berlin.

It is interesting that when you first picked up the AUG, it was before the whole AUG meta, the price nerf and all of that, in 2017, and you have been using it since. How did you pick it up, how did you realize it was good when no one else was able to do so?

Since the beginning, 2016, 2017, I use to look at the stats of the guns and I remember comparing the M4 and the AUG. The AUG could do a one-headshot kill at close range and the accuracy with or without the scope was really insane. I was thinking - I can be short a flashbang if I buy the AUG, but sometimes I can get double the kills. So I think it was already worth it.

People, in general, don't like the AUG in CS. Did you have people trash-talking you early on?

In Brazil I received a lot of trash-talk, people calling it "bot gun" and stuff like that. But it never got to me because I was getting kills, and winning matches. [laughs]

After the AUG nerf came in, you were playing the MDL playoffs and Global Challenge, and that was one of your best tournaments. What was that like, where did that form come from?

I think the way we play Train right now I'm just comfortable peeking every angle, and I think our teamplay against the guys from Singularity was really on point. And I just managed to be at the right spot every time.

You had that tournament and then you came here for the Minor. Was the preparation not as good as you wanted it to be, with the jetlag and the little free time you had?

I think that the jetlag could screw us up, regarding preparation, we wanted to bootcamp, but we will probably be bootcamping if we manage to go through to the Major.

Starting the tournament here, you played against INTZ and they said that they prepared well for you and ended up winning the game. So how did that go from your perspective? Did you feel that they were really prepared?

I think they were really prepared for some rounds, definitely when we were on the T side, some strats they were countering so much. I think the problem with the game was that we made a lot of individual mistakes and we didn't convert the eco rounds that meant the game went to their side.

The eUnited game was interesting because you lost to them online recently, and it was an elimination match, a lot at stake. So how did you go into that game?

With the Nuke opening, I think we felt really comfortable. We always manage to beat them and I think the online game was a really good preparation from their side.

You also beat Luminosity and are going to the playoffs. What is the difference between playing these Brazilian teams and the top European teams you've mainly been playing in the last month or so? Is there a different mindset going into these games?

I don't think so because we don't like to underestimate our opponents. I feel that when we play against Brazilians they know a lot more of what we are doing, so it is always a close game.

Now moving into the playoffs, you obviously want to get to the Major. As you've been playing a lot of big tournaments, is there a need from you to perform and get to the next stage, is there more pressure than playing at big tournaments?

No, I don't think so. I think the pressure is the same right now. We are just going to be really prepared because we are going to face NRG and the last few tournaments didn't go so well. So we will take our revenge.