arT jokes about young core: "They are like players in diapers, they need to be guided"

Fluxo come into the Major as heavy underdogs but their captain thinks they have a "very good chance" to make the second stage.

Fluxo may be dead last at 32nd on HLTV's power rankings going into Austin but Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan thinks the team can surprise — as long as they "don't feel the pressure."

"When we play a match and we are prepared, we just play better," arT continued. "If we manage to do that in the Major, don't feel the pressure, feel ready, and just go to the server with energy and wanting to win, I think we can go to the second stage."

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Missing coach Marcos "⁠tacitus⁠" Castilho to visa issues is an added, unneeded challenge which leaves the burden of leadership even more on arT's shoulders.

The team have, however, had good results locally in Brazil, not just at the MRQ but by winning ESL Challenger League and qualifying for the next season of Pro League.

arT, who is attending his eighth Major, may have had ups and downs as he passes his one-year anniversary in Fluxo colors but qualifying for Austin is a chance for him to put his name back in the conversation.

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What's it like to be back at a Major?

It feels great, it's something I always strive for in a new team, so it's amazing.

You've spent one year in Fluxo now pretty much. How would you reflect on your first year with the team?

It's hard to communicate that in a small phrase because one year is a long time, you know? A lot happened, a lot of changing lineups, a lot of back and forth, but I would say that we managed to get some achievements that we were looking for from the beginning. Mostly the Major, but also having a solid lineup where you can be confident in fighting the tier-one Brazilian teams. So I think that's the biggest thing, we've been competitive in the local scene.

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arT: "Fluxo is a long-term project; FURIA was about winning the next event"

Do you think it's been good for your career to take a bit of a step back? Have you enjoyed that process?

Yeah I think so. Of course you always strive to be the best and qualify for tournaments, and try to win tournaments. You have to change your mindset if you go from 'I want to win this tournament, I want to reach playoffs' to just 'I want to qualify for this tournament.'

It's a different way of thinking. It's hard to express it in English for me. I am happy that we are growing right now and qualifying for tournaments, we have a solid path going forwards, but of course I want more.

I wanted to ask about the most recent roster change, mlhzin. What is he bringing to the team? Can you tell me a bit about adding him and what he's been like?

He just joined the roster, it was very fast for him. He came from an academy team in Brazil, so he doesn't have a lot of experience playing tournaments or even playing as a team, so he's learning a lot and learning fast, which is a good thing. Let's see how he performs under pressure, if he does the biggest thing.

When we played the qualifier for the Major I think he did pretty well, he did not get overwhelmed by the pressure of the important rounds, so hopefully going forward he is just going to learn from this and grow more.

What's it like picking up a player from an academy compared to a pug squad? Does it benefit you to have someone who's been in a bit of a structure before?

It's hard to say because you have all sorts of players. Sometimes they come from an academy and they don't have much life experience or a way to play, so it's easy for me to put the mindset I want on the guy.

Sometimes it's even harder because he needs to learn a lot of CS concepts, even playing as a team, a lot of strategies that he doesn't have in his playset. It's a mixture thing, it's nice to have someone who can learn, just like a sponge, but it's a lot of work, it's very stressful. All the players are kind of new in that sense, not only mlhzin, all the players are learning a lot through this process.

You won't have Tacitus this event, how much of a challenge is that going to be with him being at home because of visa issues?

It's a very sad thing, but when you have a tournament in the US, sometimes this happens. We're going to be with bobz, who is our analyst, and tacitus is going to be in touch with him. So he's not here physically, but he's able to help us and be with us, not during the game, but afterwards and before. He should be there helping us, so I think it's okay.

One of the changes you made this year was benching zevy and then unbenching zevy. Can you tell me about that process?

The team was struggling last year and we didn't have a lot of options in the market to get more firepower. The team was also not happy with the results, and zevy as well was not able to put too much energy, and it just felt like we should try something new and change the roster. We could not have many players, and we tried to bring in a new AWPer. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't, but it was something we wanted to try before the Major, because you have this small time frame before the qualifiers for the Major, and you cannot mess around with the VRS system.

So we just wanted to try things before hand, and it didn't quite work out, so we talked to zevy to come back. I think it was a good thing overall because zevy came back full of energy, and he was wanting even more, so it worked pretty well.

zevy's been to a few Majors before, what's his attitude coming in?

I think zevy has to find more comfort in the game, because when he's comfortable and confident, he plays very well, he is going for kills and he's hitting shots that are hard, but his mindset... he needs to find that space where he's comfortable and confident. If he's confident, he's an amazing player, so it's all about this. I am trying to put him in the best positions he wanted to play, and let him lose a little bit, for him to find the groove. It comes with time.

CS has this thing, you see like Vitality, if you go on a winstreak you get more confidence and it gets even better. Its like a snowball effect, for every team it's the same thing. If we get a winstreak, if we manage to go through the first stage, I am pretty sure he's going to be way better in the second stage. That snowball effect works really well with the guys, if they are happy and winning, they are even better.

What are your expectations coming in, as one of the lowest seeds?

I do think we have a very good chance to go to the second stage, just because we played some teams from this stage and we know we are capable of beating them. We need to not feel the pressure, I think that's the biggest thing. If we don't feel the pressure and play our game, we have a very solid team, and we practiced a lot and prepared a lot for the Major.

For the qualifier as well, we faced some teams that are hard, even Legacy, and we felt that we are prepared. When we play a match and we are prepared, we just play better. If we manage to do that in the Major, don't feel the pressure, feel ready, and just go to the server with energy and wanting to win, I think we can go to the second stage.

What is your role in trying to make sure that those nerves don't come in? Because you have three very young riflers, and zevy is young as well.

I think that's the biggest thing whenever I try to put a playset in for the team. As I did in FURIA, I had some presets and things that they have space to work around. I am avoiding those kind of things in tournaments because I think when they have the responsibility to do by themselves some things, they feel the pressure, and they don't want to do that, so they kind of just wait for me to do something.

The biggest thing I think is way before the match they have the playsets ready, and for most gun rounds they know what I expect from them. They have a path to go, they don't have to choose paths, they just play their game inside the path. I think that's helping them more to not feel the pressure, just having the plays beforehand, and during the game I am very vocal about what I want to do.

How have you adapted to that shift in mentality as an IGL? Do you think they just need more structure as young players?

Yeah definitely they need more... it's not like coaching, but they need someone to be telling them what to do, because they are like players in diapers (laughs), they need to be guided. After some time of course they will be developing senses that are going to help them to take that responsibility and take those actions by themselves, but it takes time. It's hard to take those things.

Within the team we change roles a lot, nobody was set in positions in roles, like piriajr came to the team playing key positions, star positions, and nowadays he is more like an anchor. So he has not had much time in those positions, he has to learn to play them, so I am not expecting the new lurker to play those positions and know what to do in every situation, it's hard for them. As of right now everything is happening so fast, and we are not really 100% prepared in each position on each map, so I am more helping them to know what to do.

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 Stage 1
03/06/2025	FlyQuest 20:50 Fluxo	Match