IEM Rio Major profile: FURIA

The hometown favorites for a playoff run head to Rio with a lot to prove.

FURIA is the success story that defines the new age of Brazilian Counter-Strike. They were the team of upstarts that succeeded the once-dominant Luminosity and SK lineups to become the best South American team, a roster composed of entirely fresh talent that burst onto the scene following a move to North America in 2018 and began to slowly climb the ranks, finding their place among the world's top 30 teams by the following year.

The Brazilian roster has established itself at the top since then, and are ever present in big tournaments; however, they still remain on the fringe of title contention, having never quite been able to level up to the caliber of a world-beating team.

From the depths to dark horse

Despite now being a consistent household name among the top crop of teams, FURIA's history at the Majors doesn't run deep: the organization was only founded in 2017, and has attended just four Majors since its creation. Thanks in part to the coronavirus-imposed online era and to the team's relatively recent climb into the upper echelon, the Brazilian organization still has a lot to prove on the world's biggest stage, and they head to the Major in their home country hoping for better results than in the past.

The trio of Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato, Yuri "⁠yuurih⁠" Santos, and Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan has been present in all of FURIA's Major campaigns, during the span of which the team has steadily improved upon their results. When they first moved to North America in 2018 with the goal of practicing against better opposition, FURIA floundered, missing out on attending the FACEIT London Major after failing at the Americas Minor. It didn't take long for the team to get back on track though, and they began to slowly prove themselves worthy competitors against some of the best teams in the world, culminating with a successful bid to qualify for the IEM Katowice Major at the start of 2019.

Early exits at both Katowice and the following Major, StarLadder Berlin 2019, were blemishes on an otherwise growing résumé for the Brazilian troup, who had climbed in the rankings through strong placements at other events that very year. The core were left wanting, and naturally change followed soon after their exit in Berlin as Henrique "⁠HEN1⁠" Teles was brought on in hopes of inspiring more consistent peaks.

The team weren't given much time to prove their prowess on LAN with their new roster as play moved online in 2020, a year in which FURIA displayed dominance in North America but were unable to showcase their ability at the Majors. When PGL Major Stockholm finally rolled around, HEN1 had departed the team. FURIA remained a playoff contender , but were lacking some of the flair and identity that had been a staple of watching them play in days gone by.

Still, the team showcased better form than in their previous Major efforts, kicking off their run from the Legends Stage and qualifying for the playoffs with a 3-1 record. An elimination at the hands of Gambit followed in the quarter-finals, and it was a similar story at PGL Major Antwerp, with FURIA again managing to make the playoffs from the Legends Stage only to falter in the first round of the bracket stage.

Hope of writing a new history

FURIA may have started their first Major as the perennial underdogs, the "upset" team in group stages, but their identity is anything but that in the present day. They now stand tall as a roster not to be underestimated and one that can consistently challenge top teams, but their pedigree is not yet in the realm of title contenders, as they often muster runs to the playoffs just to falter short of the trophy.

Falling short in playoffs is not a new story for FURIA, either, but it is one that remains consistent across their offline tournament history. While the 2020 and 2021 online seasons were kind to them, allowing wins over domestic competition, true trophies have remained elusive for arT's side. Their last LAN victory dates back to the Arctic Invitational in 2019, a four-team event where FURIA were the favorite heading into it, but otherwise the team has recorded just two other small international tournament wins, and none against top tier opposition.

While their consistency in placing among the top eight in tournaments has remained, FURIA look no closer to trophy contention heading into Rio, relying on the fragging output of KSCERATO and yuurih in many of their matches. Bringing on Rafael "⁠saffee⁠" Costa has served to help the roster return to their prior level before the online era, but they haven't surpassed it, unable to find a consistent winning formula in the current meta.

No longer the arT gallery

FURIA's identity has always been etched by arT's next-level aggression, whose information-based plays and disruptive style was what made the Brazilian side stand out from the rest of the field during their rise. It was one that caught teams off-guard consistently, and was often what defined the team instead of the stellar rifle work of KSCERATO and yuurih. More recently though, arT's impact has fallen off, overshadowed by players like Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis who have honed and tailored that style to an even greater level while arT has struggled to maintain his form.

Despite being less decisive, the aggressive rifler is still an exciting prospect to witness take on the world's best teams, a player who is the everlasting wildcard on the server and can create spectacles of games like few others. These days the way teams approach Counter-Strike has sterilized the individual impact arT can have, and his ability doesn't compare to the likes of the aforementioned YEKINDAR, which leaves FURIA destitute in top tournaments.

Conversation has instead shifted to KSCERATO and yuurih, who were ever-present with their consistent impact on the server for the team and have become more or less their only win condition with arT's markedly lower impact against the world's top teams.

FURIA as a whole have remained a stalwart presence on the server in recent months. They made a run to the ESL Pro League Season 16 playoffs before ultimately falling to Outsiders and advanced through the Americas RMR with a 3-1 record, but the Brazilian team will need to display much better form if they hope to impress in their home country.

Time to make a mark

As FURIA turn their attention to Rio, the pressure will be on to perform across the board. Their fringe-playoffs level won't be enough to satiate the hunger of the fans at home, and the players can't and shouldn't be satisfied with more of the same. For a roster that represents the hope of Brazil's future, FURIA need to show they can level up with the home crowd behind them, or further changes may well be on the horizon.

While Imperial may be comfortable dancing to the beat of their last drum, FURIA are in no such position. The players are hungry for success, and tension must be building internally at this point — the team have chosen to utilize their professional poker player co-owner André Akkari in hopes of him alleviating some of the pressure felt by the team, but so far, they haven't shown an ability to overcome the best teams in the world — is that something that will change in Rio?

Other IEM Rio Major team profiles

IEM Rio Major profile: fnatic
IEM Rio Major profile: 9z
IEM Rio Major profile: Bad News Eagles
IEM Rio Major profile: Outsiders
IEM Rio Major profile: Vitality
IEM Rio Major profile: Imperial
IEM Rio Major profile: IHC
IEM Rio Major profile: BIG
IEM Rio Major profile: Ninjas in Pyjamas
IEM Rio Major profile: MOUZ
IEM Rio Major profile: Sprout
IEM Rio Major profile: Spirit
IEM Rio Major profile: 00NATION
IEM Rio Major profile: GamerLegion
IEM Rio major profile: ENCE
IEM Rio Major profile: Liquid
IEM Rio Major profile: Grayhound
IEM Rio Major profile: Heroic
IEM Rio Major profile: OG
IEM Rio Major profile: Natus Vincere
IEM Rio Major profile: Evil Geniuses
IEM Rio Major profile: Cloud9
IEM Rio Major profile: FaZe

---

Check out HLTV.org's IEM Rio Major hub

---