returns to
MSI with renewed confidence and growing international expectations after their last international appearance. The team continues to lean into its aggressive identity, but now with a stronger emphasis on structure and decision-making under pressure.
In an interview with
Sheep Esports,
Pedro "" Seixas talks about his personal growth since his first
MSI appearance, FURIA’s identity as an aggressive but evolving team, and the matchups and moments he’s most excited to experience on the international stage.
You're back at MSI. What feels different this time compared to your first international tournament last year?
Pedro "Tatu" Seixas: “The last tournament was kind of frustrating because we almost won twice. We lost two series 3-2. So now I'm feeling like, “Okay, now it's time to do it for real." Now I need to win some match because I almost did it twice. I think the third time I need to win at least one BO5, and we go slowly winning and winning and winning, and I hope we get moments at the tournament.
Last year I was so surprised by you because you had a lot of confidence but a lot of really to the ground and being real about what was going to happen at MSI last year. What changed for you?
Tatu: I mean, I think I'm much better now playing League; I think I’ve grown up a lot in this last year. So I'm still very confident; I'm still really aggressive playing, but now I'm smarter. So I'm kind of anxious of playing on stage, but it's a good type of anxious.
Can you tell me a bit more about your journey until now? When it comes to international stage, you have way more fans looking at you than when you play in CBLOL, so if they were looking at you after last year, what would you want them to see?
Tatu: Oh, I want everyone to know that now I'm better, and if I was a good player last year, then I'm a really good player today. I hope everyone will know that. I think you're going to play really well and we're going to be fine. I'm really confident that myself at my team. So I'm just here to show that we can play good League.
Last year at MSI, you called your first international chapter "The Underdog Appears." What would this MSI 2026 chapter be called?
Tatu: The Underdog Re-appears. I think it's kind of like that because we're from CBLOL, so until now, for more than the last 10 years, we've always been the underdogs. Let's see if we can change something.
For the people who do not follow CBLOL, what is FURIA's play style, and how are your teammates on the Rift?
Tatu: I think FURIA is really, really, really aggressive when we are playing well. I think that's our biggest strength. If we're not playing aggressive, then there's something wrong. So everyone going to notice that we are a really good mechanical team, have good players. When we are playing smart, we are very dangerous. I don't think just mechanics can handle a BO5 at MSI, so we also need to be smart. But in general, we are pretty aggressive. It's fun to watch because we have pocket picks and stuff like that that everyone like to see.
Who do you think is the team that you would have the most difficulties playing against knowing that you are this aggressive?
Tatu: I think we can either face LYON or HLE in this first match, and we are kind of hoping that we face HLE because everyone on the team is really anxious to go against them in a BO5 in this stage. And I think HLE is going to be the hardest team in the entire tournament for us to play against because I think they know how to handle overaggressive plays. So it's going to be a really hard challenge for us, but I think everyone wants this hard challenge, so it's going to be HLE.
And as you said,HLE are the favourite coming into the tournament. You said yourself, you're the underdogs. We know internationally Kanavi has been very consistent as a jungler. What would you say you do better than him?
Tatu: That's a tough question to answer because I think every answer here is wrong. There's no right to answer to this one. I think he has a lot of strengths and he's an insane jungler, but I'm confident in myself. So I think I can surprise him sometimes. So let's see stage. I think that's the best answer that I can give.
And I've heard some talk about an Ashe-Seraphine combo that has become one of FURIA's signatures. How important is to have picks that force your opponents to change the way they draft against you?
Tatu: I think that's insanely strong at international stage because not everyone scouts all teams [like us], mostly because we are underdogs. They don't know much about us because they think they're going to win anyway, so that's the main point where the pocket picks are going to surprise them and get them.
Did you have any trouble scrimming, or do you still need to start scrimming in Korea?
Tatu: Oh, bootcamped one week before MSI started, we stayed at T1 for one week, and we were scrimming every day. Scrimming against Asian teams is always hard, you need to be on point every time because they play aggressive League and they are smart too. So at the beginning we struggled a lot, but since the fourth day, fifth day, and sixth day, we played better, and now we are on a good track. We're going to have a really nice scrim, today and I'm looking forward to this practice. I think our performing in the last MSI and in the America's Cup made us have good practice here. So that's really nice.
Now that you say that you're boot-camping at T1, I remember seeing someone tweeting how every team seems to be a T1. How has the atmosphere been of having everyone in the same space?
Tatu: It was really nice. Staying at
's facility it's really good. They have an insane structure out there. It's super nice, but for me the best part is like to dinner with Faker and get the elevator with Keria and Oner. That's kind of insane for me, and every time that it happens, I'm like, "Oh my God, they're here!"
This made me think about how sometimes it's difficult for sports teams to be together in the same camp because there is such a more rooted rivalry than between esports teams. Do you also feel this difference between esports teams and traditional sport teams?
Tatu: Oh yeah, sure. Yeah, I think it's way more friendly. I think the biggest rivalry that CBLOL has now with someone else is against LCS. But even there I think it would be pretty fine. I think gamers.. everyone is super nerd. So maybe on the Rift there's some rivalry, but when you go outside you're a real human. I think then there is no rivalry because we're all nerds.
Now as a last question for you today I wanted to ask, if you were to be remembered for this MSI, what would you want to be remembered for?
Tatu: For winning the tournaments.
