MIBR bench drop, release BIT

The Brazilian team is making a double change after a disappointing start to the year.

MIBR have announced that they have benched in-game leader André "⁠drop⁠" Abreu and parted ways with head coach Bruno "⁠BIT⁠" Fukuda Lima.

The announcement comes after a disappointing start to the season. The team crashed out of BLAST Bounty in the Round of 32, went out of IEM Katowice Stage 1 in 9th-12th place, and was eliminated from PGL Cluj-Napoca in the Swiss Stage with a 1-3 record.

Between the Polish and the Romanian events, MIBR went back to Brazil to compete in the South American qualifier for BLAST Open Lisbon, where they finished runners-up to Imperial.

In a post on X, drop revealed that he requested to be moved to the bench. The 21-year-old had been the team's IGL since the summer of 2024, guiding them to the semi-finals of ESL Pro League Season 20 and the Elimination Stage of the Shanghai Major.

"Things hadn't been working out the way we'd like, and I wasn't feeling well, either inside or outside the game," he wrote. "It's time to reset, spend a few days sorting out problems I have with myself, and come back stronger."

BIT leaves MIBR after almost three years with the organization, which he joined as a head coach in April 2022. He transitioned to a strategic coach position two years later before taking the team's reins once again at the start of this year after Renato "⁠nak⁠" Nakano stepped down from the role.

On X, BIT admitted that he became "too overwhelmed with everything" following nak's departure.

"The last weeks weren't the best, but know that, despite everything, I gave my best every day to do everything that was and was not in my hands to help the team achieve its goal, whether it was as a coach, father, psychologist, analyst or whatever it took," he wrote. "I gave my all there every day.

"I understand the fans' complaints, I agree with many of them. Believe me, I also did my best to build the coaching staff we all wanted."

MIBR added that the new player will be unveiled soon. According to a report from Dust2 Brasil, the organization will move benched player Breno "⁠brnz4n⁠" Poletto back into the starting lineup and name Jhonatan "⁠jnt⁠" Silva the new head coach.

MIBR are now:

Raphael "⁠exit⁠" Lacerda
Rafael "⁠saffee⁠" Costa
Lucas "⁠Lucaozy⁠" Neves
Felipe "⁠insani⁠" Yuji

Breno "⁠brnz4n⁠" Poletto (benched)
André "⁠drop⁠" Abreu (benched)