How insani became Brazil's rising star

MIBR's 20-year-old talent has the potential to be Brazil's next big thing, but he still has a long way to go to get where he wants to be.

One of the most interesting aspects of Felipe "⁠insani⁠" Yuji's meteoric rise is how close he came to not making it here at all.

By early 2021, the Brazilian had all but given up hope of becoming a professional player. He had been playing CS:GO since 2016 after being introduced to the game by his brother and some of his friends, and had even teamed up with other players from Curitiba, the capital of the southern state of Paraná, to compete online in Gamers Club's open leagues.

Turning pro, though, seemed like a distant dream. So he put CS aside and continued to concentrate on his studies, setting his sights on a career as a software engineer.

Everything changed in July 2021, when MIBR launched Feitos no Brasil (Made in Brazil, in Portuguese), a nationwide tryout process that would form the base of their academy setup. Spurred on by friends, insani signed up for the tryout, which attracted over 600 youngsters from across the country.

After a monthlong process with multiple stages, he was one of only three players who made the cut and were selected to be part of the first MIBR Academy lineup.

"It was the best decision of my life," he told HLTV during a recent bootcamp in Lisbon. "If it weren't for that, I wouldn't be here today."

insani has gone on to become one of Counter-Strike's most exciting young talents and a key player for MIBR, who are within arm's reach of the top 15, but there was nothing in his formative years that suggested he would make such an impact in the big leagues.

He averaged just a 1.06 rating during his 18 months in the academy squad, which mostly competed locally, but MIBR still picked him over more established names when they were looking to replace Jhonatan "⁠JOTA⁠" Willian in January 2023.

The explanation lies in what he provided to the academy squad in the intangibles department and in his team-first focus. (An example of insani's selfless mind is that he took up IGL duties in the Feitos no Brasil trial tournament featuring the 20 finalists, who were split into four teams.)

Halfway through his academy stint, insani concluded that he had to commit to the game fully to continue his development. With MIBR's help, he convinced his mother to give him her blessing to put college on hold indefinitely and play the game full-time.

"After a lot of talks, a lot of meetings, we reached an agreement, and she decided to give me this chance," insani recalled. He also invested in a better computer and a new monitor. The differences were night and day: In the three months before his call-up to the main team, his average rating shot up to 1.15.

insani joined MIBR weeks before IEM Katowice 2023. It was a trial by fire as he was going to make his first LAN appearance in one of the biggest tournaments on the circuit, yet he passed the test with flying colors, averaging a team-high 1.27 rating in the play-in. Still, MIBR failed to make it to the main stage following losses to Ninjas in Pyjamas and fnatic and a single victory over Grayhound.

insani credits his previous experience in judo, where he is a purple belt, as something that helped him keep his emotions in check. "Since I came from the academy team and I wasn't a renowned player, that also helped," he added.

"I didn't have that much pressure from the fans because expectations weren't high. I didn't have a lot of weight on my shoulders. We were also kind of underdogs in the tournament. All those factors made it so that I didn't feel that much pressure."

Those performances started to raise eyebrows and put him on the radars of many, but the following events brought him back down to earth. He struggled to post above-average numbers at ESL Pro League 17 and at the Americas RMR, where MIBR were one victory away from qualifying for the Paris Major. He then finished IEM Rio and Gamers8 with disappointing 0.66 and 0.71 ratings, respectively.

Rather than sulk, insani acknowledged his shortcomings and the amount of work he needed to put in to become an elite-level player. Around that time, MIBR also made an important decision: the team would abandon its North American base and split their time between Europe and Brazil with the aim to scale greater heights and improve their quality of life.

MIBR hit a purple patch of form during the final stretch of the season with the team's newest signings, Rafael "⁠saffee⁠" Costa and André "⁠drop⁠" Abreu, more in tune with the rest of the squad. In high spirits after winning MEO XL Cup, a small four-team LAN event in Portugal, the Brazilians reached the semi-finals at PARI Please, ESL Challenger Jönköping and BetBoom Dacha Dubai, with insani averaging a team-high 1.17 rating during that period.

"For me, 2023 was a year of a lot of learning," insani said. "I gained a lot of experience. My life completely changed.

"The biggest lesson was that 99 percent of the time, our performances will depend on ourselves, how we deal with problems and overcome difficulties. The group needs to be united and working on the same page. That's the most important thing about a team. It's not about this or that player.

"I feel that I individually depend on my team, you know? I know that if I put in good numbers in a tournament or if I'm playing really well in a match, I can do that because of my team and because they're playing in a way that allows it to happen."

MIBR began 2024 as a top 15 team in the world and had their sights firmly set on the Copenhagen Major. With six spots on offer via the Americas RMR, many saw the Brazilians as a lock for the Major, but they shockingly stumbled against BOSS and Legacy.

According to insani, it was the "biggest disappointment" since he joined the team, but they used it as an opportunity to develop their craft and work on their issues.

"We started to look at things differently, to approach CS differently," insani explained. "I feel it has helped us to get back on track and return to a path where we're continuously evolving."

After a two-month LAN break, MIBR returned to action at Global Esports Rio, finishing third to paiN and Imperial during a hectic week that also included qualifying matches for the Esports World Cup. Days later, the team flew across the globe for ESL Challenger Melbourne, where they dropped only one map on their way to the title.

It was hardly the most exciting tournament in the Counter-Strike universe (only three top 30 teams in attendance, one of which, Apeks, was already falling apart), but the title still came as a much-needed relief to an organization that has only claimed one noteworthy trophy since its 2018 relaunch.

For insani, it also cemented his status as a star in the making: he averaged a career-high 1.51 rating in Melbourne and was named the tournament's MVP by ESL.

But in CS-crazed Brazil, all this attention also comes with a level of scrutiny that not every player is equipped to handle. It has been almost a decade since Brazil was a dominant force in the scene, with the players who were part of the two-time Major winning team all in the twilight of their careers. That puts an incredible amount of pressure on rising talents to be the ones to pick up the torch and restore the country to greatness.

How does insani deal with those outsized expectations?

He paused for a moment to consider his next words. With startling self-awareness, he noted that, while he knows he has the "potential to be a great player," he doesn't want to get consumed by such thoughts.

"I think that pressure will always exist," he said. "I think the most important thing is shielding yourself from criticism and the hate you get. Or even from praise, which can blind you to some extent.

"I always try to be as realistic as possible. I will always accept criticism and everything, but I try to focus more on myself than on the image they're trying to paint of me.

MIBR head coach Renato "⁠nak⁠" Nakano isn't surprised to see the kind of star insani is growing into. As one of the main architects of the Feitos no Brasil project, he could see the potential in the then-18-year-old. Watching it come to life, he admitted, is a huge source of pride.

"He is a special player," nak told HLTV. "He can become a star player for an S-tier team, and I obviously hope it will be for us when we get there. He has everything to be that star and the level to stand out against the best teams in the world."

It's impossible to predict with any degree of certainty just how far insani will go, but the consensus is that he has a bright future ahead of him. Still, he knows that he can't skip any steps in his development.

When asked about what he needs to improve, he listed just about every trait you want in a modern player. "Intelligence, knowing what to do, how to improvise and read the game," he said with a smile. "My mechanics, too. Basically, everything can be improved. There's nothing that is good enough."

insani is doing his best to block out all the noise around him, including the suggestion that he should join another team to realize his potential. His mind is set on two goals: breaking into the top 10 in the world ranking and finally playing at a Major.

Knowing how different his life would have turned out had he not signed up for MIBR's academy program, he is enjoying every minute of it.

"To be honest, I don't think too much about them," he said when asked about his career goals. "I don't want to set any limits. I just want to continue to do what I do best, which is play CS. We'll see how far I can get."