FalleN spoke highly of his opponents after defeating BETBOOM in the PGL quarterfinal.
After winning the Thunderpick World Championship last time, FURIA continued their good form, reaching the top four in a row, eliminating BETBOOM in the PGL Masters Bucharest quarter-finals to remain in contention for the title.
BETBOOM have lately become regular opponents for FURIA, and FalleN feels they've been a bit unfortunate to have such a poor record in this matchup. "I don't think you can say it's a bogey team, or that we always beat them, because they've had a lot of chances in a lot of matches... I think they're just a bit unlucky."
“I like the way Boombl4 understands the game. If you look at how they played Dust2 in their recent matches, it's completely different from what he's doing here, so he can really bring something new.”
FURIA will next face MOUZ, and FalleN believes the match could go either way. "They're a very tough team to play against, but both sides have a chance. I think we can beat them, and I think they can beat us. It will come down to who plays better on the day."
Q: I heard YEKINDAR say on the broadcast that you said Cache was a bit like a "facelift." Describe that series from your perspective.
A: It was a good game. I think on Dust2, we had a chance to close it out earlier, but they completed an incredible comeback, very respectable. Some of their gun rounds gave us a lot of trouble, I think we have to go back and review, check the flashes we used or how we responded, that wasn't good enough. But they played a great T half, that was great.
I like the way Boombl4 understands the game. If you look at how they played Dust2 in their recent matches, it's completely different from what he did here, so he can really bring something new, and it worked. But we managed to put together some good CT rounds to close out Dust2, including that insane 1v2 from Mareks. Really good, an amazing play, played really well.
Then on Cache, I felt the first half was tense, but the second half was free-flowing. I felt things went too smoothly for us, they felt they had to do something on the CT side, and they kept trying and it kept not working, and the game just ended like that. So it was a really good game.
Q: Do you think this is a good matchup for you stylistically? Because I think they are also very active and like to move around a lot, but that's also in FURIA's comfort zone, right?
A: I don't know why, we've managed to beat them the last four times. That BO5 was the craziest match we've played in a final so far, they could have won it too, and we've played so many games against them. I don't think you can say this is a curse, or that we always beat them, because they've had a lot of chances in many games.
We beat them 2-0 once before the final, with KSCERATO going crazy in two rounds on Ancient, which decided the match. So I think they were a bit unlucky not to get those wins, and maybe there's also a bit of a mental factor, because they can beat a lot of strong teams. But when it comes to us, I feel we are still a stone in their shoe right now.
Were you surprised by the map veto (map picks)? Because the first two maps of that series were Dust2 and Cache. In the Thunderpick final, you won both maps 13-6.
Q: Yes. When considering the map veto, we thought they would pick Ancient, which is a map they play very well, and we've faced them on it a few times. Maybe that's why they didn't want to go that route. When you play the same teams many times, you can never really assume there's only one way of thinking, right?
A: We thought they would pick Ancient, but they thought that even though they lost to us on Cache, they probably felt that match was unlucky because of those force-buys and stuff that happened in the final, they thought it would be different this time.
There's always this factor: the team that loses the map usually puts in more effort to understand what they could have done better and how to beat us next time. And I think what worked against them on Cache is that, because we weren't really expecting Cache, we actually didn't prepare Cache much at all.
So in a sense, we had to play more free-flowing and more versatile on the T side, which is why those risky plays that got us a lot of kills were not what they expected. They were expecting the same game as last time, I guess.
Q: I know you said in our interview with you at Thunderpick that you wanted to get back that feeling of winning an event and what it can bring to the team. Do you feel like that has already happened for you guys? Do you feel like you have that bounce-back momentum after winning a title?
A: Yes. A lot of good things are coming our way right now. I think the first thing is that our schedule has changed, to train as much as possible on match days. I think that has helped the team get into better form, incorporate more into our game, and play better overall. I think we have also been able to draw some conclusions about what cannot be missing from our game in order to truly play well in terms of communication and the set tactics we want to play. The sharing of collective responsibility has also gotten better.
Winning tournaments always helps boost confidence, and facing the strongest teams in the semi-finals and final will be a major test. I think if we can play at our best, we have a chance to win the tournament, but so do the other teams here.
Q: Yes. I was just about to say next up is MOUZ. How do you feel about that match? I think they've beaten you the last two times.
A: MOUZ is a very tough team to play against. I think we beat them at one event we attended, but overall they play very well and sometimes beat us. So this will be a tough match, they are playing really well. Undoubtedly one of the best teams in the world right now. I think they are also one of the teams that made the best adjustments, bringing in new players and moving xertioN to the calling role. He has adapted very well.
So this is a very tough team to deal with, but both sides have a chance. I think we can beat them, and I think they can beat us. It will depend on who plays better on the day.