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Matchday 2 of the Valorant Champions 2021 witnessed an enticing exchange between Furia and Sentinels. It resulted in the latter earning a 2-1 victory in their first match of the tournament.
The final showdown in Haven (9-13) decided the outcome of the match for Furia after they conceded Ascent (9-13) and made a comeback on Breeze (13-10).
Sentinels' victory confirms their progress to the upper bracket of the group stage. Furia proceeds to the lower bracket in Group B of the Valorant Champions. They will face KRU Esports on December 5 at 22.30 IST (18.00 CET/12.00 EST/9.00 PST).
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Furia, Keyd Stars, and Team Vikings are the three teams that represent Brazil in the tournament. A roster comprised of Matheus "mazin" Araujo, Khalil "Khalil" Schmidt, Augustin "nozwerr" Ibarra, Alexandre "xand" Zizi, and Gabriel "quick" Lima will attempt to carry the expectations of Brazilian fans at the Valorant Champions Berlin 2021.
mazin discusses Furia's performance after defeat to Sentinels in opening fixture of Valorant Champions Berlin 2021
After concluding Furia's opening match of the group stage against Sentinels, Adarsh J Kumar of Sportskeeda was allowed to converse with mazin. The pro provided insights into the team's performance against Sentinels and their future endeavors in the professional Valorant scene.
Q: To start off, how do you feel after playing your first-ever international LAN tournament?
mazin: This is the first time I've ever played in a major Valorant tournament. Although I've had previous LAN experiences, I'm thrilled with this opportunity to play at the Valorant Champions.
Q: Sentinels are one of the top teams in North America and one of the best teams in the world. How did Furia prepare for such a challenge considering your team has never played top opposition from NA or Europe?
mazin: Most of the preparation was done during our boot camp. We have no experience playing against A-tier teams in competitions, even though we have done so in training a couple of times. So it was good to have an opportunity to play against a top North American Valorant team.
Q: Earlier today, in a similar match-up, the underdogs, Team Secret, surprised a top European team, Gambit, by winning the first map on Icebox. Did that give you guys more confidence before playing your first match against Sentinels?
mazin: We are always confident. Valorant is a game where anyone can win despite their popularity. So, regardless of Team Secret's result, we are always ready for upcoming challenges.
Q: Although you lost the match, Furia showed very promising comebacks on all three maps and clearly impacted other teams just from your opening match. How determined are you in winning your remaining games and making it to the playoffs of Valorant Champions?
mazin: We are confident that this game was just a test for us, and we now leave the game with much better morale. We think that we have many things to show in the upcoming matches.
Q: Furia will play KRU Esports. Any thoughts on that match-up?
mazin: KRU Esports is a team that we regularly play against in Brazil, so there are positives and downsides to facing them. But we are sure that we are ready to have a good match.
Q: Furia is one of the three Brazilian teams at the Valorant Champions Berlin. As a nation with passionate gamers, what expectations do you think Brazilians have for the trio representing their region?
mazin: Brazilian fans are very supportive, so they have high expectations. After two international events (Stage 2 and Stage 3 Masters) where Brazilian teams didn't have a good result, we are ready to prove ourselves at the Valorant Champions.
Yesterday, we got a preview of it with the dominating 2-0 victory of Team Vikings, while today, we put up a good performance. So, I think we can achieve what the Brazilian people are waiting for.
Q: Furia had a 5-0 lead in Ascent, and you guys looked like you had the half by at least 8-4. Just what turned the match around?
mazin: We understood Sentinels' game style very well initially, but we faced some issues towards the end of the first half in Ascent. Otherwise, we could've had a better result in the match. Nevertheless, we are proud of our performance.
Q: We've seen Furia play in Breeze in only two official matches before, whereas it's one of Sentinels' strongest maps. How did the team manage a comeback?
mazin: We've played very few official matches in Breeze; however, we play a lot of Breeze in training. Brazilian teams generally like this map, so we're used to playing it.
We haven't played many official games on Breeze because teams usually choose to ban it during map selection. But we always focus on playing the arenas that we choose, so we think we did well today.
Q: We already saw a few technical issues happen so far in the tournament. There was a long technical timeout right before the last round of the last map. Do you think Furia could've taken the match to overtime if it wasn't for the timeout?
mazin: Even though we were down 12-9, we had good momentum right before the timeout. However, these things happen. We're not very concerned about that. It was just a tiny detail from today's match, but we're going to focus on the next play.
Q: We couldn't help but notice an interesting play from xand in the 20th round on Haven. xand dropped the Operator on A-short, and Sentinels, taking the bait, helped you win the round. Was that unintentional, or was there any strategy behind that particular play?
mazin: That wasn't part of any planned play. We had an excellent economy at that moment, so xand had a Phantom as well as an Operator. The purpose was to use the Operator for the initial peek and then switch to the Phantom for close-range combats.
