02.16.26 - 11:30 AM02.16.2026 - 11:30 AM·5m5 minute(s) read·

By Mehdi "Ztitsh" Boukneter

FURIA koalanoob: "I beat the best-of-five curse. So let’s win that best-of-five in Masters finals"

FURIA defeats MIBR 3-2 in the Kickoff Americas final, clinches the title, and qualifies for the Santiago Masters as the number one seed.

Furia secured the win against MIBR, claiming their spot in the Santiago tournament. Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

FURIA alym: "I knew I’m winning this series. My close friends know what I said. I knew I’m not losing it"

FURIA made a big splash to kick off their season. After a nail-biting final against MIBR on Saturday, the Brazilians won 3-2 to take the Kickoff Americas title and, more importantly, secure their ticket to the Masters Santiago.

More than just a trophy, this victory confirms the success of a rapid rebuild: driven by an already close-knit team and confident attitude, FURIA now stand as the number one seed in the Americas, with the status and expectations that come with it.

Questions for Gianfranco "koalanoob" Potestio

How does it feel being the number one representative for Americas?

Gianfranco "koalanoob" Potestio: “It feels great. I always believed in my squad. The skill on this roster is just so high, and I feel literally when you compare mechanics and stuff, I’m definitely the worst, so in my head I just need to make sure that I run it down for these guys because I know we can be first seed and win every tournament as long as these guys are always alive in the late round. They’re just such incredible players, and it just feels great. I’m just so happy.

You finally won a best-of-five. Talk to us about the vindication you feel about your and the team’s ability to lock in when it matters most.

koalanoob: I played a pretty gruesome best-of-five series that I’ve lost, and they were heartbreaking. But the thing I learned the most is how to deal with it afterward. Some players could just sit around, be heartbroken, and it always stings, the thought of it. If I think about it, it’ll sting. I’ve played through best-of-fives more tiring than this. I was pretty solid and confident the entire way through. Obviously, that little situation on Breeze kind of clicked me off for a sec, but my team, as I said, they’ve got my back. They just told me, “It’s ok. It happens. Focus up.” And I was right back to the person that I wanted to be for the rest of the series. I think I beat the best-of-five curse. So let’s win that best-of-five in Masters finals.

Knowing that you were that very first piece and they placed a lot of how they want to build FURIA around just how you are as a person, how does that make you feel?

koalanoob: It makes me feel good. Especially the coaches, even the players trust me this much. When I first joined this team, I joined in an undecided role. I kind of just joined, and I said, I’ll play whatever you want me to play. And with that logic, we did a lot of trial and error with players. Again, like what he said, the environment is very important and stuff. And this roster, in all the trials, clicked the best; the talent was there. We have a mix of rookies, and we have a mix of experience, and these rookies, their first season in Tier 1, and they’re making Masters, they’re not gonna be rookies for much longer. And we’re gonna be getting stronger and stronger now. I feel like this was just it for us.

The last time you played in a final was at the inaugural Ascension. How does it feel for you two to qualify for an international after being apart for three years?

koalanoob: It was a heartbreaking loss with eeiu (Daniel Vucenovic) in 2023. I knew he was going to do great things. He was literally just frying that season. And I never thought I’d be able to play with him again. But here we are. I know the type of player he is. I know what he brings to the team. And to finally make an international with him, not just make Tier 1, to make an international with him, I’m so happy that we get to be reunited. This guy does so much work for us. He really makes sure we’re drilled on stuff. And I gotta give him a big shoutout because man, the clutches and stuff he had this Kickoff, and it’s gonna be for the rest of the season, I can’t even explain how shocked I get every time I watch him play.”

Daniel "eeiu" Vucenovic: “I love koalanoob. We had a good time before, to be honest. We won everything except the very last event, and then got second in that one anyway. So yeah, I know how he plays as a player. Overall, I have confidence in his ability to play the game at a really high level because of our entire year through Tier 2. We just won another trophy, so I still have confidence in his ability to play. Really good AWPer. One of my favorite teammates I’ve ever played with. Yeah, I love koalanoob.”

FURIA celebrating their first place at Americas KickOff. Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

Questions for Arthur "artzin" Araujo

In the offseason, what were some of the reflections that you had from 2025, and how did you use those learnings to propel yourself to be in a position like now, where you’re qualified to Santiago?

Arthur "artzin" Araujo: “Honestly, after the season ended in 2025, I was really happy with the things that I achieved, first internationals, being able to go to internationals. I was really happy, and I knew pretty much what my problem was to perform. So I worked on that, and I’m really glad that it’s paying off now, and I really hope it’s only the start for me now.

What do you feel like some of those problems were, was it things in the server or just?

artzin: Nah, it was more off-game stuff, mental. I have some mental issues, off-game issues. So I just had to work on that, and now I’m chilling.”

Questions for Ian "shaW" Jardim

In the offseason, how did you go about this rebuild process and piecing everything together to get to where it is now?

Ian "shaW" Jardim: “In my last team, we faced a lot of problems because we didn’t have a good environment. It’s hard to say, but when we have this new opportunity to build a new roster, the first person I talk to is koalanoob. He is a great friend. He reminds me of my friends because he always has this good attitude, and after this, I keep searching for players like Gianni because if we have a good environment and good talents, it’s easy to build a good game, and it’s simple.

When this roster was formed in the offseason, was there a specific period where you were seeing everyone play in scrims and you’re like, “We have something really special”, or was it a team dinner, where you’re like, “These people get along and we’re going to be friends outside of scrims”?

shaW: The first time artzin scrimmed with us, it was different because he had 130 ping, as he was in Brazil. We win a lot of difficult matches, and this guy was teleporting on the map. Now that we’re here and our team is formed, we should post some clips of us scrimming with Art. On Sunset, this guy was on random characters like KAY/O, and he literally looked like a robot. He’d be aiming here, and then all of a sudden, he headshot somebody and we’re like, “What is going on, man? We can’t even see him on the screen.”

artzin: “Yeah, I mean, I had a hard time, honestly. The moment I started playing with this roster here, I knew we had a lot of potential. So I wasn’t caring too much about my ping because I knew the second I landed here, the stuff would be so much better. So yeah, it was a hard time, but it paid off.”

Questions for Torogul "alym" Baidyldaev

You said “there is a triangle with 3 teams: NRG, MIBR, and G2. Let’s make it a circle.” And it’s just FURIA in there. How does it feel to know that quote is really aging well right now?

Torogul "alym" Baidyldaev: “It doesn’t feel that much different, because I knew in a moment that I’m not just bullshitting. I meant it. And it’s like, going into these matches, I know it was really, really tough, but I don’t think I had a single thought, “Oh, I’m gonna lose this series”. I knew I would win this series. My close friends know what I said. I knew I was not losing it. Even though I didn’t perform the best, that’s just the vision we had, and we lived that vision.”

Questions for Michael "nerve" Yerrow

When you’re within Tier 2, can you talk about some of the reflections that you had each year to be able to get to this point, and how are you balancing everything so that you can continue to pursue this dream and be here?

Michael "nerve" Yerrow: “VALORANT has always been my plan A, and there’s never been a plan B. It’s plan A, plan A only. Grinding in Tier 2 the past few years, I learned so much about myself as a person, not only in the game, but out of the game, more importantly. Playing with so many different teammates, different coaches, different systems of teams, you learn so much about how to be a better teammate, to be a better person. So I think I credit a lot of just grinding through the mud of Tier 2, playing a best of five with Alem this last season in Challengers, and losing so close really hurt me, and I’m sure it did him too. It was a painful loss, one game off of Ascension. But I think that experience we had in that match taught us a lot, and we pulled through today, thankfully in this best of five.”