FUR Guigo: “I wouldn’t say [LYON] are stronger than us. In general, I think we’re pretty even.”
Q: How is Korea? How are you enjoying MSI?
Guigo: Honestly, it’s been very good so far. We were bootcamping at the T1 office — it was really amazing, the food was good. Obviously, the first few days were a little bit all over the place because of the jet lag and stuff. But in general, it’s been very good.
The hotel we arrived at yesterday is also very good, so I think we’re just feeling fantastic in general.
Q: Have you gotten to meet any players from other teams, or bumped into them in the halls?
Guigo: Yeah, we’ve seen some of them but didn’t really talk too much. Me and Tatu had some conversations with BrokenBlade and Skewmond because of the Twitter [content], but besides them, we didn’t really talk to anyone.
I mean, in-person, but I talked to Pun from Team Secret Whales. I talked a little bit with him and played some 1v1s, so yeah. But that was it.
Q: I always find it funny, because all the players are in the same hotel, but whenever I talk to players they’re like “No, no I’d never talk to them. That’s crazy.” I guess players aren’t very social.
Guigo: Yeah, we don’t really see it that way. I think Brazilians especially are very social. We enter scrim lobbies — let’s say against LNG — and Tatu starts questioning a lot of stuff, talking to them really openly. So yeah, Brazilians in general are a lot like that.
Q: FURIA is lauded for being genuinely strong — not just for a CBLOL team. How have scrims gone? How are you doing against the highest caliber of opponents?
Guigo: We definitely felt the difference on the first few days against the strongest teams—the top LCK team, the top LPL team. We definitely saw that there’s another level to achieve, but in general I don’t think it shook our confidence. In fact, I think it only made us want to improve more and learn more things.
So in general, I think we’re doing the very best that we can to achieve our best results. I feel like this team is very united and looking for the best [results possible].
Q: How do you feel against LYON and relative to the LCS? And why did you go to America’s Cup just to humiliate us?
Guigo: *laughs* I mean, it definitely wasn’t intentional.
We scrimmed a little bit with LYON when they came here for First Stand, and they felt like a good team. Definitely the same level. I wouldn’t say they’re stronger than us. In general, I think we’re pretty even — I can’t say right now, because we haven’t scrimmed them for a long time, but we’ve both improved. I expect to have a very even match against them.
Q: Dhokla seems quite similar to you, stylistically. You both primarily play tanks on weakside these days, but have specialty carry pocket picks. What do you think of him?
Guigo: Yeah, definitely. I think Dhokla — even though I think it was Castle that they brought in as a sixth man [is good].
I like this story of someone performing really badly, then they bring in another guy to sub him in, and suddenly the original player starts performing well again and the sub never plays. I like that kind of narrative, and Dhokla did that. They brought someone in to sub for him, and then he started performing well again.
I have a good relationship with him also, and I look forward to maybe facing him. I think we’re on a similar level.
Q: Your first round opponent could also be HLE. LCK first seed … that can’t be good, right?
Guigo: Yeah, of course. They are really, really strong. At least for me, facing Zeus — the guy who won Worlds with T1 and was known as the best top laner for a really long time …. I had this —- I wouldn’t say it’s a dream — but I had a really strong wish to face him.
So it might become reality, and I’m really excited to see how I perform against him. These guys are pretty tough. Their team is really strong. They play very aggressively in general. It’s a very different style from the majority of the LCK.
Q: FURIA plays very fast — much like BLG and HLE. Is that the ideal way to play, or is that more because Tatu is a true psychopath on the map?
Guigo: I think in general the game today is played a lot through opportunities. If you have a strong bot lane, you start creating opportunities for dives, ganks, skirmishes, and all of this stuff.
If you watch the LPL, most of the games are basically all over the place because of this. A skirmish happens, a contest happens, and people just go for it — I think it’s probably the optimal way to play the game right now. I don’t think playing very slowly and methodically is very sufficient right now.
I think that’s one of the reasons why Gen.G didn’t win; I think Hanwha Life had a better grasp on the way to play the game. So yeah, I definitely think it’s the most optimal way to play.
Q: Have you guys done anything fun together lately?
Guigo: I think we have a lot of fun stories, actually. This team — specifically us at FURIA — we joke a lot with each other. We are really friends with each other.
I think we’re really close. We do a lot of stuff outside the game. Some days during the first split of CBLOL, instead of practicing solo queue or watching VODs, we used to play Steam multiplayer games with each other, laughing a lot and having a good time.
Sometimes we’d go out for dinner and just talk about life and joke a little bit about each other’s past and things like that. So yeah, in general, we are really close with each other, and that’s why we’ve had a lot of success.
Header Image Credit: Riot Games
