On the eve of FPG3, the outside world considered FURIA a favorite to win the championship. However, their condition was not at its best—they had just flown from Portugal to China, enduring a 17-hour flight and a 7-hour time difference, with only one day to adjust. After the match, coach sidde candidly admitted that the journey did affect their performance rhythm. When asked why they didn't skip this tournament, sidde replied, "We can't decide which tournaments to play based solely on convenience; the club has its own considerations." Regarding whether FalleN wanted to win more championships before retiring, he denied this notion: "We're not deliberately accumulating titles, but for tournaments we've won before, we always want to come back for another shot."
Q: You are the only universally recognized top-tier team in this tournament and the biggest favorites to win. What considerations differed when deciding whether to participate or skip this event?
Sidde: There are many reasons why we chose to come here. I understand that the schedule isn't solely my decision; the club also has its own considerations. Although the venue is quite distant this time, from other perspectives, it’s very important for us to be here. We can't decide which competitions to participate in based solely on our own schedule convenience—such as whether the schedule is light or the travel is easy. Sometimes we need to make some effort, just like this time. I can't disclose the specific reasons, but we truly have many justifications for participating in this competition.
Q: Could one reason be that you wanted to give FalleN more opportunities to lift the cup?
sidde：I wouldn't say that. Of course, we have good feelings about this tournament because we won it last time, and we will look at a previously won event as an opportunity to replicate success. It might also help us find a better rhythm in the latter half of the season. But that doesn't mean we'll go out of our way to accumulate championships or anything like that.
Q: Tomorrow you'll face PARIVISION for a playoff spot. Overall, do you think this opponent will be more challenging and the match tougher to win?
Sidde: Yes, of course. If you consider that GamerLegion played with a substitute last time around—unfortunately, Snax wasn't able to make it, which had a significant impact on them. Competing under those circumstances is indeed challenging. So next, we're facing a fully assembled team that has had some downtime and plenty of preparation. I know how hard they've been practicing, and they've just added FL1T, who has great chemistry with Jame and dastan. It'll be interesting to play against them; it's been a while since we faced them, I think the last time was at PGL Cluj earlier this year. We'll give it our all—it's definitely going to be an exciting match.
Q: Do you think you had enough time to adjust for that game?
Sidde: Hopefully. We should be the last match of the day, so we can get some more rest and have time to prepare. We should be fine.
Q: Even with GamerLegion bringing a substitute, you were nearly forced into Map Three. How did it end up like that?
Sidde: We started off slowly on both maps (Mirage and Cache). We lost some crucial rounds, making it very difficult for the attacking side. We dropped two anti-eco rounds, an issue that has plagued us for a while, especially on Mirage. After that, they controlled the economy, putting us at a disadvantage in terms of pace and the remaining rounds. Following those two rounds, we were on the back foot until we switched to CT side and slowly began to claw our way back.
Q: You just returned from BLAST, did the packed schedule affect this match? Specifically, when did you fly in? How much rest did you get?
sidde: We left Portugal at 6 AM on Sunday and didn't arrive here until 7 AM the next morning—the journey took nearly 17 hours. We reached the hotel around noon and then spent the entire day resting. Later in the afternoon, I did some media work before focusing on recovery, and some of us handled a few pre-race preparations. Today, I woke up feeling ready for the race. Fortunately, we had the last event of the day, which gave us a bit more time to rest since everyone was still dealing with some jet lag. Of course, the long trip also brought a few physical issues. But honestly, it's not too bad—we've experienced worse before, like flying to a completely different time zone and competing the same day. That was truly tough. This time was manageable; we can handle it.
Q：So you think the schedule doesn’t really have much impact on this game?
sidde: No, I think there still is an effect. Especially in the opening of Cache, we could feel the impact. Considering the travel time and the seven-hour time difference, only one day to acclimatize is indeed not enough. But we needed to get warmed up first. At the beginning of the match, we were very groggy because our bodies were still fatigued, but after warming up, we felt much better.