Lucaozy on vsm reunion: "I know how he thinks about the game and it's the same for vsm to me"

The rising Brazilian talent spoke to HLTV ahead of Fluxo's match against Evil Geniuses in the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown.

Fluxo entered CS:GO in August, boasting a handful of familiar names and making headlines as they splurged on buyouts to bring their squad together. The organization is well known in Brazil for its FreeFire team and massive social media following, and as such, their entrance into CS:GO was already a notable one, with the the players they picked up only adding to that interest.

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Fluxo enter CS:GO with lineup headlined by felps, vsm, Lucaozy *

The team struggled for results early on, the timing of their formation and lack of practice together coming back to bite them as they faltered in all three of the South American open qualifiers for the IEM Rio Americas RMR, falling short of advancing by just a handful of rounds on three occasions.

The setback did not dissuade Fluxo though, as they have continued to steadily improve, winning CCT South America Series 2 and showing decent form against Outsiders on LAN at ESL Challenger Rotterdam while picking up a series win versus TeamOne in the process.

A key part of the team's ability to consistently compete in matches is Lucas "⁠Lucaozy⁠" Neves, who has been hailed as one of Brazil's most promising talents and has been delivering for his new lineup, averaging a 1.18 rating. The 21-year-old was previously sought after by 00NATION, but the organization were unable to meet the buyout set in his contract by Sharks.

We spoke to Lucaozy ⁠— with the translation help of coach Willian "⁠Xamp⁠" Caldas ⁠— about that deal falling through, as well as how it has been playing for Fluxo and how he feels in the team. The Brazilian rifler also touched on missing the Rio Major and the team's long-term goals and prospects, as well as how they feel heading into their match against Evil Geniuses.

To start I wanted to talk a little about Fluxo. How is it working with this organization since they're relatively new to the space?

It has been great for me to be on Fluxo, it's one of the biggest organizations in Brazil. Not in CS obviously, but they are great. They are giving us much more than we need. I had already played with one of the players in the roster, so it's easy to adapt, it's easy to play in the team.

Considering they're so new, what kind of expectations have they set for you as a team?

The main objective of the team is to qualify for international events over the next year. When we have free time, do some bootcamps in Europe, maybe in North America too, and growing the team, reaching the best spots in the HLTV rankings to be invited to other events.

One of the events you failed to qualify for was the Major, which must have been a big blow for you as a team just starting out. How did it feel missing out on the Major in Brazil?

It was very sad for us because all of our families and friends were believing in us. We didn't have quite some time to practice actually, a little less than 2-3 weeks, but after that, we tried to get up, and we could do this because we won some championships in Brazil, and that's what we want to do in the future. Win more championships, qualify for international events like I said.

You spoke earlier about coming into this team with someone you know already, that's vsm, you played together on DETONA before. How much has he helped ease your move into this upper echelon of teams?

It's very easy to adapt because we are friends in and outside the server. We're used to playing the same bombsites, doing aggressive and safe plays together. I know how he thinks about the game and it's the same for vsm to me.

The other players on the roster are a little less familiar for you, so what is it like working with them?

lux is a young boy, he's the most dedicated. It's easy for him.

It's great to play with felps because he is one of the biggest experienced guys in Brazil, and his style of game is almost the same as me so he transfers that kind of experience to me.

WOOD7 is a very experienced guy too, I believe he's one of the best in-game leaders in Brazil. He is very dedicated, he's always trying to help each player get their best performance. He's one of the best in-game leaders to manage people, and it's good to work with him.

You're considered one of the most promising upcoming talents in Brazil, how do you feel about that sentiment and do you feel any pressure from that?

I actually don't feel the pressure because I just try to put into the server what I practice. That's how things work for me, I try to do my game, and when it's going good, like it's going now, it's nice for me. I don't feel the pressure, I just want to play my game and grow with the team.

You recently played at ESL Challenger Rotterdam where you ended up losing to Outsiders twice, what kind of lesson did you all take away from those losses?

It's hard to play against these high-tier teams because when you make a little mistake, they are going to punish you. It's not common to see this in Brazil. The loss makes me happy actually, because I think the team are in the right way, and I think it's possible to win this in the future just by practicing more and believing in our game.

You're going to have a chance to play against some larger teams again in the BLAST Showdown, you're playing EG in your first match. Obviously the hope is to qualify for the final, but what is the team's approach heading into this event and that first match?

It's going to be a tough game, as every game, but I believe in the team. We have a lot of capability to win against them. I'm very proud of our game, we believe that we can win. Of course it's not easy because they are very experienced guys too, but we are going to do our game and I believe it's enough to beat them. EG is not the only good team in the championship, but it's our first step, and we believe we can reach the semi-finals.

There were reports that 00NATION tried to buy you out well before you joined Fluxo, but they didn't meet the buyout. Are there any regrets about not being able to go to that team at all?

Not actually, because not paying the buyout is not the only thing that can block this transfer to 00. I am happy here. Even though 00NATION were very interested in me, it's not easy to transfer because they didn't find the number to transfer, and Fluxo paid all my buyout.

00NATION qualified for the Major while Fluxo missed out, but do you feel like this team could have a higher peak than 00NATION in the long-term?

The potential is the same. They have young guys like us, but 00NATION is a little bit more experienced than our team. They have been together for quite a long time, they have coldzera and TACO, two very experienced guys who won a lot in the past. In the future, we need to see.

We need to see in a couple of weeks, a couple of months, maybe the next year which team can reach more. But both teams have the chance to be the top one in South America.