Banner image: Ubisoft/Kirill B.
After surprisingly parting ways with MIBR due to internal conflicts, Matheus “Budega” Figueiredo stated his desire to become a coach in the NAL in an interview with SiegeGG.
The Brazilian is now a free agent and is already looking for proposals, independently of the role he would exercise. His intentions are to be ready to go with a new team for the NAL first Stage on March 22. "I’m interested in taking any [NAL] team to the top, in any role that is needed," Budega said.
According to the coach, his departure from MIBR might seem unexpected, but it's something he has been thinking a lot about in the last few months. Budega also stated that he and the MIBR lineup had not been on the same page for a while, making him feel like he needed to leave.
MIBR’s has been on a downhill run since the last Six Invitational, where they ended in the third place. Ever since this event, everything has gone sideways. Felipe “Felipox” De Lucia's inability to play with the mouse and keyboard for the whole Brasileirão second split due to shoulder surgery and the internal conflicts have all been factors for the team’s recent below the expectations performance.
After recently calling NAL a "Farmers League", Budega expanded on his polemical quote and what he thinks he can add as a coach in the NAL. "I feel like I'm at my best as a Rainbow Six coach," Budega said. "I can bring a completely new game philosophy for my team … about NAL being a Farmers League, I was only talking about the weak performance that really happened to their scene in 2021. A lot of undone projects that made a bunch of teams become inconsistent, making 3, 4 teams dominate."
Furthermore, Budega opened up about the mentality he has coming into his new project and also what he believes is the main problem from the NAL teams. Differently from the Team oNe and MIBR experience, where he was with the roster since May of 2017, as described Budega “we were like brothers … learned everything I know with my boys and them with me”. The coach now wants to be the team’s reference and show them a new way of playing Rainbow Six Siege.
“It’s a huge responsibility and I feel ready for it”
Regarding NAL's biggest issue, the Brazilian coach gave his two cents about the improvements the weakest teams needs to make in order to be more competitive. The non-established American teams lack a solid base, needing a more well defined game structure, he says. There has to be a game philosophy putting a clear goal in the players mind when they enter the round. “… 5 players that understand what they’re doing during the 3 minutes of the round.”
Despite only coaching in Brazil, Budega has no language barrier and speaks English fluently, he says. The former MIBR coach lives in Long Island, NY, since 2015, where he went through both high school and college. As one of the coaches that made Brazil become Rainbow Six's biggest powerhouse, Budega might be a good addition to the North American scene, provided a team gives him a shot.