FURIA Esports stole the show in March 2024 after picking up the two-time BLAST R6 Major winners and Six Invitational 2024 champions to re-join the Rainbow Six Siege competitive scene.
Logically, after such a dominant season, the expectations around the former Bulls were extremely high. Playing under the Black Panthers meant competing for one of the region's powerhouses; definitely a step forward in the players' professional careers.
Needless to say, the expectations were totally unrealistic. If winning everything in a BLAST calendar year wasn't hard enough, doing so twice was quite close to being impossible. However, it's fair to say the team's first season under FURIA Esports hasn't been as last year's.
In a matter of months, the team went from establishing a dynasty in the game to struggling not just internationally but also on home soil. Plain and simple, after joining FURIA Esports, the team's consistency simply vanished. To understand the reasons behind the roster's performances in Year 9, we have talked with FURIA Esports' IGL Felipe "FelipoX" Lucia.
"Some things did change," he admitted. "We went to FURIA, it's a bigger organization, I think the pressure is a bit bigger. It did change, the environment too, we used to play in a gaming house, with FURIA we got to get used to the game office that they have. Besides that, the meta changed too, I would say a lot of things changed from last year," the Brazilian added.
It's fair to say Operation Deadly Omen shook Rainbow Six Siege's meta. All of a sudden, shield operators became colossal forces that were difficult to stop. Knowing how to play with and without them proved to be crucial for teams to take back Rainbow Six Siege's international scene off FURIA Esports' hands.
"The shield meta, Blitz, Montagne, Fuze. We didn't get used to that. We don't have a shield player in our team, that hurt us a lot during this year," the Brazilian explained.
For instance, the BLAST R6 Major Manchester champions, Beastcoast, made Montagne one of their main pillars as Mathew "Hotancold" Stevens mained the French operator when open, but would quickly switch to hard breach if the attacker was locked. In the grand final against Team BDS, the European roster banned Montagne in every single map.
"If you see Team Liquid, they were playing every round with a shield. If you see Canadian in DarkZero and in Soniqs, he's playing shield every round. We didn't have that, we didn't get used to that. In my point of view, that was the biggest mistake, that we didn't get used to the shield meta," FelipoX explained.
With Operation Collision Point, Ubisoft released a handful of nerfs that could allow FURIA Esports to keep shields under control. However, the arrival of Blackbeard could be an unexpected twist. All in all, the Brazilian felt positive when talking about the tweaks.
"I am really confident for next year with these meta changes and I think we are going to do very well in this Six Invitational 2025," the Brazilian said.
Logically, the team's sudden eliminations at international competitions and the players' struggles to adapt to the meta were difficult challenges to face.
After winning it all, a Top 8 finish in Manchester and a Top 4 finish in the Esports World Cup 2024 may look underwhelming; however, the truth is that these results awarded the Brazilian powerhouse with almost USD$200,000 in prize pool alone. It wasn't a bad start and it only felt not enough because of the players' past as Bulls.
"After winning everything I think we did learn a lot about how to deal with pressure, I would say pressure affected us in the first stage, but I don't think that was the reason why we lost," the Brazilian admitted.
"The main reason why we didn't perform that well this year is the meta. I can't say anything else, the meta is the main reason why we didn't play well this year. Yes, the pressure played a little part, but I think we deal well with pressure. We played the Six Invitational in front of 10,000 people, I don't think there's bigger pressure than that," he added.
However, it was in the second stage when FURIA Esports was given a reality check. After the team's defeat against Black Dragons in Brazil's Last Chance Qualifier for the BLAST R6 Major Montreal, the Black Panthers missed out on the final Major of the season. Furthermore, it was the first time the former Bulls missed out on an international competition since the start of the 2023 season.
"It was really bad for us mentally when we didn't qualify for the Montreal Major," FelipoX admitted. "But, looking back now, I think it was good for us to not qualify, because we were almost one year and a half going to every tournament and making deep rounds, we got a lot of rest now," he added.
With international glory it comes pressure and an exhausting calendar. Making deep runs at international competitions means more matches, more training, and, at the end of the day, more time behind a screen far from your family and friends.
"I went back to my hometown with my family, stayed there for three weeks, not looking at Rainbow Six Siege for a single day. So, I think it was a good moment for us to rest, to reset, now we came back and we all have the hunger to play the game, to get better," the Brazilian explained.
"We did have a lot of one-week breaks during this year and a half, but this was the longest break not playing Rainbow Six, not worrying about Rainbow Six," he added.
Moreover, FelipoX also revealed the team worked a lot with the team's psychologist as it was an important element in the players' season. "FURIA has a psychologist, she helps us a lot, every week we have a group session with her and she's always helping, that makes a lot of difference in our game play," he explained.
Lastly, FURIA Esports' captain had some positive words for w7m esports. The former Bulls didn't qualify for Montreal, but the Brazilian organization won the BLAST R6 Major Montreal against all odds.
"They built the roster from the ground, I appreciate that a lot from them. They know how to pick up players and build a new roster, a competitive roster. They have the best player in the world right now in my opinion, which is volpz, I think it's really great what they did this year building that roster and I feel really happy for them," FelipoX concluded.
FURIA Esports' run for the hammer will kick off tomorrow against CAG Osaka. The Japanese are arguably the group's favorites to take the bottom seed, so a victory against them would be a great start to the Brazilians' title hopes.
All in all, the Six Invitational 2025 is the players' chance to redeem themselves. While trying to defend the hammer, the Black Panthers will have a shot at giving FURIA Esports what they have wanted for years: the world championship.
"We want to win with FURIA, we want to give them the world title," FelipoX said. "We know they want that so much and they are paying the price for that, they give us all the support they can, it's amazing the gaming offices they have, everything in the structure of FURIA is amazing," he concluded.
If you want to stay up-to-date with all the news about Rainbow Six Siege and the Six Invitational 2025, don't forget to bookmark the site and follow us through our social media pages.