bodyy: "I wouldn't say I didn't enjoy my time in fnatic, but it made me realize how good it is here"

The Frenchman is happy to be among his countrymen again as they open their Cluj-Napoca run with a victory.

Alexandre "⁠bodyy⁠" Pianaro made his LAN debut with 3DMAX at PGL Cluj-Napoca with an opening round victory against Virtus.pro mere days after securing a spot at IEM Dallas in the online qualifier in his official debut with the team.

After securing a spot in the 1-0 pool over VP, bodyy spoke to HLTV about his return to the French scene following an unsuccessful spell at fnatic and what it's like to shed in-game leadership duties while taking up more of a secondary voice in Bryan "⁠Maka⁠" Canda's system.

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Your LAN debut is a win against VP, who just made the playoffs in Katowice. That must feel good, right?

Yeah, it feels really good, honestly. I didn't know what to expect coming to this LAN, we didn't have much practice. VP is definitely one of the strongest opponents on LAN and I'm happy with the win.

You say you didn't have a lot of practice, but you played some officials in the Dallas qualifier, where things went pretty well. How important is it to get off to a good start in the new team?

It's so important for the team because there was so much pressure from the move. Djoko was in this team, the team was working well, and all of a sudden the move came in. I'm joining this team after having bad results in fnatic and being the IGL, so there were a lot of doubts.

That's also like a release of pressure for me, knowing that I can perform again not being an IGL, and in a LAN environment for the first match. I think it was really important that we qualify for Dallas, and now, to win our opening game in Cluj, it's awesome.

You said you can perform now that you're not an IGL anymore. Is that just down to you not having that burden of calling all the time? Because in the Dallas qualifier and today, you had some good individual moments.

I don't know if it would be different if I was calling in French or English, I don't know how different it would be with these guys. But I would say that I'm 100% focused on individual preparation and just shooting people, and it makes so much difference on the server, to my individual confidence, and to my personal growth. I have so much more time to just practice for myself as a player. It's two different worlds, honestly.

You're not the IGL anymore, but you're a strong second voice in the team. Is it hard to adapt to not talking all the time?

I don't know how hard it is yet because I want to talk, but I need to give space to Maka, and I'm really happy because he's a really great leader and caller. So from the start, it was not that easy because I figured out that he took a lot of space in the vocal department. I just had to adapt and find a balance for him to be able to make his best calls.

And as of now, I'm really happy not having to figure out the macro and all this kind of stuff. I'm just happy about adapting inside games and trying to read my own areas, what I see, and just pass on the information or call if I feel like it.

I have a lot of freedom in this team. I'm not a caller, but I have all the trust from everyone, the coaches and the players, to make calls if I want to. It's so much easier to be a second caller than the main caller. It's two different worlds, again.

Talking about Maka. Do you two have a similar vision for the game that meshes together well, you would say?

I think we really do. I've been playing in French teams before, and he has been playing in French teams before, so we connected. We didn't need to play together to have the same principles and way of playing because he played with former teammates of mine, and I used to play with his, so there were a lot of similarities.

I just came into the team and knew by instinct what I had to do, and they also adapted to my play style. It's so easy for me to just come in and be myself. And to answer your question, I think we definitely have a similar vision. I'm not doubting any calls he makes, and there's no mistrust or anything. I trust him blindly, honestly.

You mentioned playing on instinct. How much easier is doing that when you're speaking French rather than English?

It's like one second faster per decision, per word, per sentence. It's so much easier to make yourself understandable. There is like the same vision, culture, and we're all friends outside of the server. It's so much easier to bond and make sure that you trust each other, and there's no unsaid [problems] in the team as in an international team.

You mentioned the mood in international teams is different. Is that something that hindered your progress on fnatic? Was the mood in the team something that's held you guys back a bit?

I would say it definitely held us back. In fnatic, we were trying to connect as much as we could, but in the end, we had different visions of the game, the coach and myself, and maybe other players as well. It was hard to adapt to everyone, and once the vision is not the same, it's hard to trust each other and play great games.

I think the environment was good, but in-game, it was always tough to make sure that we were on the same page. Now in French teams, it's so much easier, man, we joke together so easily. We listen to the same music eat the same food, and we all know how to deal with each other's emotions and moods. It's different.

I wouldn't say that I didn't enjoy my time in fnatic, but it made me realize how good it is here. I've been through French teams, and that was my first real international team, and it helped me realize that I belong here at the moment. I'm taking a lot of pleasure playing with the French guys.

You're enjoying playing, results are going great. What are the expectations, maybe not just for this tournament, but for the season overall?

The expectations don't come from me, they come from the common vision. But I would say that for this tournament we aim to play some semifinals. I think playoffs would be a great achievement to go a step above from what they've been doing before.

They've been reaching some playoffs, but this is an arena, and I would say that it would help a lot to get that experience and confidence. Overall for the team in 2025, I would say that we definitely want to reach the top 10 and make sure that we stay there.

I get a chance now that I'm in 3DMAX to play a lot of good events, and It's a great opportunity for me to show myself, and also for a team to play those kinds of tournaments and fully live our passion. It's really nice, I'm really excited to do that. I would say the top 10 is something that we aim for and from what I've been seeing now, I think it's definitely achievable.