Fast starts, bold drafts, and explosive skirmishes are
s main characteristics heading into Mid Seasonal Invitation 2026. However, there's still a lingering question of consistency when games reach their late stages.
In an interview with
Sheep Esports, talks about FURIA’s evolving macro understanding, the shift in international meta priorities, and how the Brazilian team is trying to convert early-game strength into full-series dominance on the MSI stage.
I want to start with asking you what excites you the most about coming back to an international event?
Arthur "Tutsz" Peixoto Machado: “Last year at MSI, we definitely left with a bitter taste because we almost won both series, but we ended up just not being able to win in the crucial moment. So for me, it's about us proving that we actually are a great and we can win against these top teams. So yeah, definitely just getting an international win.
I had an interview with Tatu before your interview today and he also said the same thing. So I want to ask you, what did you to prepare? What did you in this past year? So for 2025 MSI to 2026, what did you improve?
Tutsz: Oh, definitely I think individually I'm actually playing a lot better. I think the team fights and just awareness in general, I feel like I'm a lot more aware of what's happening on the map and how I can contribute to my team and when I'm in danger, when I'm fine in this kind of situation, so definitely min-maxing a bit more. And I think for us as a team, I think last year the meta was a lot more about team fighting, there was the Atakhan and everyone was just permanent grouping and team fighting. And this year the early game is really fast, but after a while you kind of settle down for a bit and you play macro. So now I think we improved a lot, our macro because of the meta. So I'm pretty confident we're doing pretty good.
Without revealing too much, can you give me your read of this meta?
Tutsz: Well, from what we scrimmed against some LPL and LCK teams, from what we've noticed is that a few months ago we would see it heavily playing Yunara in bot lane, we'd see the Yunara-Lulu and Ashe-Seraphine be very dominant. But I feel like nowadays, even though you still skirmish a lot around bot, when after six minutes-ish, the supports start playing around the map of, let's say you play Camille and Mel or Camille Ziggs, and the Camille's just roaming around the map and the ADC is just clearing waves, so I think that's the biggest shift in my opinion, which is just like it's not only about bot lane anymore. It's also about after a while, after the first five levels, you can just leave bot lane alone and run around the map. So I think that's a new strategy that wasn't there during spring split.
How do you think that's going to affect your mid lane?
Tutsz: Well, definitely a lot, because I mean, if I'm playing against Camille, I need to be very aware of what she's doing on the map and I need to plan ahead of time so I don't get frozen on and Camille coming mid and then everyone needs to come rushing mid. So yeah, it definitely impacts a lot. Also, the middle laners that like to play around mid were buffed, like Sylas and LeBlanc for example, they are pretty strong right now. Annie is still very strong. So yeah, I think it's going to be a lot about planning ahead of time and playing well the skirmishes around it.
I know that FURIA also has built a representation of being creative in draft and you're not the only team that can pick out surprises picks. How much of that identity comes from the players themselves? How much of yourself as players and your champion pool, in fact, affect your drafting?
Tutsz: We definitely had a few fun picks. Last year during the LTA I played Zed mid and Guigo played Azir top in the same game, so there's definitely a lot of creativity. I think the players themselves actually kind of just try things in SoloQ and figure out it's actually quite strong even though it's not meta. So the Yasuo ADC, for example, especially against Varus, we thought it was a really strong matchup because you can just nullify his damage.
I think it's definitely mostly the players that come up with ideas, but sometimes you just kind of follow SoloQ trends. For example, we played Nasus jungle in the Finals and it was actually because we won almost every scrim game with it. And it started on Solo Q and then just Gryffinn was playing it, I think he played two games and then we just tried it out and it was pretty strong. We are very quick to pick up trends, so yeah, it's kind of like a thought process that just follows and we keep doing it.
You might be going against T1. So would you want to pick Zed mid against Faker?
Tutsz: Actually, I'm not sure which thing we'll play. I believe we play HLE or LYON, if I'm not mistaken. I'm not too sure yet, but yeah, definitely. If it's a good angle, I'll definitely pick it. But we need to practice first, right? I'm not going to lie, I haven't played that in a few months, so I definitely need to practice if we're going to do it.
I know that CBLOL teams often show that they can compete in the early stages of the game and you're very aggressive, Tatu also mentioned that, but then when it comes to the long-term phase of the game, there are some missteps. What do you think are some of the aspects of your gameplay that you as a team need to improve to consistently bring up that aggression from early game until a win in the late game?
Tutsz: I think it's definitely about being connected and mostly being on the same page on team fighting and when we're going to step up on the map because like the KC game yesterday, for example, it's a really weird angle that they just find a really strong comeback. So definitely against those type things, you need to be very careful and even if you're winning, the game is not over, you just play disciplined basically.
And also on team fights, you kind of need to be on the same page. So if you're playing an engage comp, you need to press the keys at the same time with good angles and you kind of just need to play the comp well I think. To be honest, I'm pretty confident. I think actually in Brazil, we came back a lot of games, so I'm actually pretty confident, I think we're a really strong team.
I think we are pretty smart and we play team fights pretty well, so I'm feeling pretty confident. I think if we don't get lazy and don't drop the ball, I think we're going to be fine closing our games.
Then what is one misconception that international fans have about CBLOL teams that you would like to change?
Tutsz: I think I'd say one misconception is that they think that the league is mostly only team fighting when in reality is actually a lot of macro and the team fights just come because it's kind of like chess, right? You're forced to do a decision and then you just try to make the enemy team take a bad fight. So I think it's similar to LPL as in you make the enemy take a bad fight, I think CBLOL is actually pretty similar, especially the top scenes. I don't think it's just random team fighting.
That's one common misconception that we'll see. And if we play good things, maybe we can force them on this scenarios and maybe it will change their view.
If someone watches FURIA for the first time this MSI, what do you hope they remember about your team after the event?
Tutsz: I think the explosiveness. We're don’t necessarily play really fast, but once we start going, we never stop. So I think it's going to be pretty fun to watch us. We get two kills on minute eight and then all of a sudden we have a 4K good lead by minute 16, I think that's going to be a pretty fun thing to watch. And the fun picks, I think, if we bring out some fun picks, I think especially in the bot lane, I think they're very creative. So yeah, I think I'm looking forward to that.
Is there anything else about yourself or your team that you would like to share ahead of the tournament?
Tutsz: I think watch out for Tatu. I think he's been having an amazing year and I think also I expect a lot from also JoJo. He's been the most consistent player in the league for a while. So yeah, I think those two, they kind of balance themselves really well because Tatu is this really explosive player that will look for angles and look for a lot of things. And Guigo is just that consistent support that will always be helping or be on a good spot. So yeah, I think looking out for those two because they're playing really well the whole year.
