FUR Jojo: “I felt like if we just played our game normally, […] we should beat [LYON] really easily.”

Q: All 3 games looked really chaotic today. Talk me through what hppened.

Jojo: For this series, I felt like we were pretty anxious the whole time. We had control for the first two games, we were doing better than them. But then we let the pressure come to us and we turned the games really chaotic, when they should be all about control and just closing the game with the advantage we had. But we made the games really messy and they all turned bad for us. That cost us the win today.

Q: To me, it looked like you guys were mechanically outplaying LYON very consistently. Did you feel that way in-game?

Jojo: I felt like mechanically we were better for sure, and that’s what got into [our heads]. Like we were not prioritizing controlling objectives and they were, so we were making the game hard for us. We were, like, kind of trying to win on mechanics alone and I don’t think that’s how we win — like of course we can win fights and outplay them, but that shouldn’t be how you win the games.

Q: Did the pressure to win for CBLOL against NA add to the anxiety when you were down in the series? Or was it just more depressing?

Jojo: I think it was more depressing, because of the way the games were being played. We were doing really good and then we were throwing the games — it kind of made us more depressed on the third game. The third game I was kind of zoned out, if I’m being honest. But I don’t know, it was just depressing seeing that we can beat them and we were throwing the games.

And in scrims and everything we’re doing, like, really well. So, coming here and not winning a single game is kind of crazy to me.

Q: From speaking to FURIA players and keeping up with the team, Tatu is generally the player bringing energy to the team. Was it harder for him to do that under the pressure today?

Jojo: I think he was … I don’t know. I think he felt the pressure, like he felt the need to prove he was better than Inspired and that cost us a few plays. I felt like if we just played our game normally — like how we are doing in scrims and everything — we should beat them really easily.

Q: It seemed like both teams were playing below their level today. Did you feel that?

Jojo: Yeah, I can agree with that. I think we’re not playing well. They were not playing well and all games were pretty, pretty messy and chaotic.

Q: Do you think you’ll face BLG or T1 next?

Jojo: I think BLG will win today and we will face T1.

Q: Obviously it wouldn’t be an easy matchup into T1, but what’s your personal headspace going into a tough series like that?

Jojo: I mean, for sure they will be tough opponents if we face T1, but I kind of like playing against players that people say “Oh he’s the best, he’s the best,” because … I don’t know why. I always feel like I’m having a great time when I’m playing against him and I can see like my true level versus him.

So I’m kind of excited on this to play against them or BLG, because I kind of want to face those players — I’ve never faced them before. So, for me, I’m just like “Okay, we’ll, play against them and now I have to do my best.” So, I’m fine with this.

Q: Let’s say, worst case scenario, you end up going 0-3 against BLG or T1, and leave MSI 0-6. How do you bounce back and take those learnings looking ahead to Worlds?

Jojo: I mean, you just have to learn everything [you can] from the games — not only the stage games. We’re scrimming lot of good teams here, and we’re learning a lot. Even if we lose and we can’t keep playing against them, because we’ll have to leave MSI, I think we are already doing better than we were in Brazil.

I think we’re learning a lot and it’s helping us. I kind of want to play more, be here, play against better teams. But if we end up losing, it’s like … whatever. And we go to the next split and we try again at Worlds.

Q: Did any players or teams from scrims stand out to you?

Jojo: I really liked scrimming TES, to be honest. I felt like they were really good. I think they’re a really good team, and it was really fun. We learned a lot from them, so I’m happy that we got the chance to play against them.

Q: In lane, or how they play as a team?

Jojo: I think how they play as a team, really aggressive and really fast, I think that helps us a lot. […] it’s kind of like how we… We like to play and they are better at this. I don’t think they are like really good laners, but I think the way they play the map like really fast and how they fight is just kind of impressive.

Q: Do you think underdog teams need unique counterpicks to find wins against top teams? Does FURIA focus on that, or is it more about refining a unique style with regular picks?

Jojo: I feel like this is true and I also feel like we have a lot of different picks. So we are practicing them like a lot. We always try like new stuff. Like the Cassiopeia we played today on bot, I don’t see teams playing that and we were playing a lot. So we try on screens, we feel like we keep trying and that’s it. But we are not like, oh, let’s just play the meta. The meta is this, we have to play this. We are always trying new things.

Q: I actually forgot about the Cassiopeia. Was that always planned to go bot lane?

Jojo: It was a flex. It was a flex, but yeah. But we were like, this can easily match mage’s on bot, and it’s good against Camille, so she’ll have her higher time. And we just kind of prepped it for Camille. It was still a flex, but we could play her mid or top or something, but it was planned to go bot.

Q: Any final message for CBLOL fans going into BLG or T1?

Jojo: I kind of don’t know what to say to them today because games were really bad. But I hope they keep watching us, cheering for us and trust us because we don’t want to just leave MSI without a single win. We know it will be hard to face BLG or T1, but we will try, we will do our best and I hope people cheer for us.