Official: FURIA bench arT, guerri to move away from coaching role

The organization has executed changes to its long-time core.

FURIA has announced sweeping changes to its Counter-Strike roster, moving Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan to the bench and revealing that head coach Nicholas "⁠guerri⁠" Nogueira will soon transition to a "Head of Esports" role within the organization.

FURIA also hinted towards the possibility of an international future for their roster, beginning with the creation of a second academy team based in Europe and made up of staff and players who live in the region.

arT's removal from the active lineup follows in the wake of reports from Dust2.br and Draft5.gg on Monday that stated FURIA were bootcamping without their aggressive space-maker for Global Esports Tour Rio, using academy member Kayke "⁠kye⁠" Bertolucci in his place.

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Media: FURIA practicing with kye in place of arT

FURIA confirmed kye's promotion is only an interim measure for their upcoming tournament while they search for a permanent fifth player, who will be decided upon by a committee of Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo, guerri, and FURIA co-owners and co-CEOs André Akkari and Jaime Padua.

That committee will also work to select a new head coach to take over the role from guerri as he becomes FURIA's Head of Esports; however, the Brazilian skipper will remain behind the team as an interim coach in their upcoming events until a replacement is found.

"I gave myself, body and soul, to FURIA all these years, and we've built a fantastic history," guerri stated in the announcement. "It is very difficult these days to build a team that is 100% Brazilian and achieve what we have achieved.

"I am very proud of everything, even though I feel we can always go further. Meanwhile, in order to reach greater heights, we need to think big, continue to evolve and have multiple lineups.

"Now, a new professional chapter has come for me. I am sure that I have a lot to add in every performance area, looking at all of FURIA's teams, but I also hope to leave an even greater legacy in CS in another way. The game has evolved a lot, and every day it gets harder to battle against the world's best. We need to adapt to this new international reality."

guerri's transition away from coaching FURIA marks the end of a six-year-long chapter for the 33-year-old, who initially helped co-found the organization in 2017 while he was a player before becoming a skipper in early 2018 following Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato and arT's additions.

FURIA burst onto the international stage with aplomb after those changes, experiencing a meteoric rise with KSCERATO and Yuri "⁠yuurih⁠" Santos impressing as a rifling duo and arT's unfathomable aggression regularly catching teams off-guard.

Big offline trophies remained elusive for the team, however, with only a few wins during the online era, some deep tournament runs, and a handful of smaller event trophies coming their way over the years.

arT and guerri became the subject of fan and community criticism following repeated failures on the international stage, with FalleN's addition in 2023 not able to curb that trajectory as calling duties exchanged hands repeatedly between him and arT.

The team's poor start to 2024, including early elimination in the IEM Katowice Play-in and exit from the Elimination Stage of PGL Major Copenhagen, has now forced the organization to pull the trigger on significant changes to the roster.

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FURIA co-owner Akkari: "The moment requires changes, and they will be done"

In-game leadership is set to return to FalleN's hands following arT's benching in a move that guerri states the organization had "already reached a consensus on" as "FalleN's leadership [as an IGL] proved to be more appropriate for the team."

The organization's internal committee will search for a new fifth and coach while also establishing a new academy lineup, which will be based in Europe and composed of players and staff from the region.

FURIA states that the new team, paired with the existing FURIA Academy, will help them have "greater long-term coverage" in their decision-making as well as facilitate the exchange of talent and knowledge "between Brazilians and foreigners."

For now, FURIA's roster looks as follows:

Yuri "⁠yuurih⁠" Santos
Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato
Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo
Marcelo "⁠chelo⁠" Cespedes
Kayke "⁠kye⁠" Bertolucci (stand-in)

Nicholas "⁠guerri⁠" Nogueira (interim coach/Head of Esports)

Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan (benched)