FalleN: "We're really focused on getting to the playoffs"

The Brazilian AWPer and IGL says that going further than at EWC would be the dream goal.

FURIA passed their first test in the Play-In stage of IEM Cologne as they beat fellow Brazilian side Imperial 2-1 in a series where they had to come back from a map down.

This is the second tournament of the season for FURIA after the Esports World Cup. In Riyadh, the Brazilians managed to reach the quarter-finals, and Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo is hoping for another playoff appearance to end the Cologne "curse" for his team, which has never made it out of the groups at the German event.

After the victory against Imperial, FalleN sat down with HLTV to discuss the messy opening series, the preparation for Cologne and the goals for the German event.

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FalleN, a 13-0 to wrap up the series. There was no better way to end it, right?

It was very important for us, a game that gives us confidence and that showed the team's resilience during the series, right? On the first map, even though it ended 13-3, a lot of rounds were close. I think they were more warmed up than us for that first game. Nuke was very tense, it could have gone either way, there were a lot of force-buy wins from both teams. It was a rollercoaster. And the third map, it was a blowout victory, we played very well.

Were you surprised with Imperial's strong start on Dust2, or did you expect a tough game?

Strategically, I was a little bit surprised because they played a bit differently than what they had been doing in Brazil. They were contesting catwalk a lot, and I think was different from what we had in mind. But I think we didn't play well on Dust2, while they played really well. And there were some rounds where two players were left alive in three or four rounds, so they were able to capitalize on that. But I think it was a good game anyway.

It's not easy to recover from a 13-3 loss. Would you say the team is stronger mentally now?

Absolutely. Absolutely. We try to take good care of the team spirit, of our mental game, so that we don't lose the match even before it starts. Sometimes, it can happen. I have been on teams where the mental factor ended up hindering the team's evolution in certain moments. And on this team, we are trying to be careful with that, it's hard to come back from a 13-3 loss like the one on Dust2. It's hard, it's a blow, it's like you're in the ring and you go down in the first round. But you have to pick yourself up and get over it. You have to keep believing because you cannot lose to yourself.

These domestic matchups between two teams that know each other very well, where there's a big rivalry, can be unpredictable sometimes. If you analyze everything that went down, are you pleased with your team's performance?

I am pleased, yes. A win is a win, and there's no way to be sad. We will obviously look at Dust2 and understand what we could have done better. And there will certainly be some things to analyze on Nuke as well. There is not going to be much to talk about regarding Inferno, I think our opponent really felt our streak of rounds, we were able to do everything we wanted to do and we won every situation. But I'm super pleased with the way that the team played today and the fact that no one let the frustration of losing a map get to them in the other games. This is very important, and we are happy that we were able to do it today.

Nuke seemed to be a very comfortable map for you at EWC. Did you expect such a close game today?

It was a very weird game, right? When you play a game where the first seven rounds are back-and-forth, back-and-forth, you end up having to use all your creativity to try and surprise the opponent, right? But credit to Imperial, too, they were playing well. There were some things that we messed up executing. It wasn't a clean game on our part, but that's the way it is. When you're in a game, you have to get it done somehow.

What was the preparation for this event like? What did you focus on during your time here in Europe after coming back from Saudi Arabia?

We focused on some new things and we tried to fix some things that we did wrong in the EWC playoffs. We're starting to have more practice time with chelo and skullz. chelo was very sick before EWC so he couldn't practice for some days, and now we had two full weeks of practice with him. We're trying to improve the team as a whole and understand how to play and adapt to each other. Fixing problems in CS is about finding solutions.

You just said on Gaules' stream that you want to break that Cologne curse, since this hasn't historically been a good tournament for FURIA. How far do you hope to go here?

We are really focused on getting to the playoffs. Our philosophy right now is 'one more step each time if possible.' So for us, it would be very important to make it to the semi-finals since we were in the quarter-finals in our last tournament. And once the tournament reaches the playoffs, anything can happen.

I have won this tournament a few times. And looking at the current level of CS, even the best teams, the favorites, can lose any match. It's super tight. The teams that are trying to get to the top are as strong as the ones that are already there. So it's going to be tough, we will try to make it to the semi-finals. That would be our dream goal. And if we can win the whole thing, why not? We will try to go as far as possible.

Right now, looking at the favorites, I'd say only a few people would believe that FURIA can make it to the playoffs. Do you think you can take advantage of that underdog status to get some upsets?

I can't say what other teams think about us, I believe that, after the recent changes, some of the concepts they have about our team are probably changing. FURIA has always had this style, has always had this eccentric way of playing that has been difficult to deal with on many occasions. I myself played against this team many times and I suffered a lot with arT's ideas, with the constant aggressiveness and the way they did things. But FURIA now has a new line-up, a new captain, and I believe that this concept of FURIA is gradually changing. I don't know what they think about us. We're just going to go in, do the best we can, and try to improve every day.

I believe that if a team doesn't take us seriously, they'll be in trouble. We're playing good CS, we have ideas of what to do, and I believe that the way CS is today, you can't not take anyone seriously. The top teams have to thoroughly analyze what other teams are doing and have to put great thought into every match-up because it's very balanced.