FURIA’s first season in Rainbow Six Siege after returning to the scene was slightly below the expectations set for the back-then world champions.
Although realistically nobody expected them to dominate as they had throughout Year 8, seeing the Brazilians exit Manchester in the quarterfinals and miss out on Montreal was a surprise. Still, they managed to collect two third-place finishes in Riyadh and Boston — making their season, overall, a solid one.
However, that’s simply not enough for a team that had dominated the circuit for an entire year. After winning back-to-back Majors and lifting the sledgehammer in front of their fans following a historic comeback, underperforming wasn’t an option; every setback hit even harder. They were used to winning — and likely had to re-learn how to lose.
“Last year our team almost broke apart because we didn’t qualify for the Montreal Major,” FURIA’s IGL Felipe “FelipoX” Lucia revealed in a pre-BLAST R6 Major Munich interview with SiegeGG.
Despite those doubts, the team decided to stay together for what could have been a last dance in Boston. Fortunately, a third-place finish at the Six Invitational 2025 reignited their hopes. “We decided to stay together and play the Invitational, and we saw that we were still good,” the Brazilian explained.
Finally, FURIA’s doubts faded away in Rio de Janeiro two months later as they became RE:L0:AD champions. “Winning RE:L0:AD was the proof that we needed (to see) that we are still good and we still can play together, and to do that in front of our fans and our families and everyone that supports us in Brazil was very special.”
Overall, FURIA’s roster had been remarkably strong throughout the past twelve months. At the Six Invitational 2025, the Black Panthers were putting on a show — only halted by the back-to-back BLAST R6 Major grand finalists and Esports World Cup 2024 champions, Team BDS. According to FelipoX, their loss against the European roster was what truly derailed their title hopes.
“The match that really lost us the tournament was against BDS,” the Brazilian explained. “When we lost the game we went to face FaZe Clan, we had already lost. We stood no chance against them, not because they were a better team than us, because we were so sad and so frustrated to lose against BDS in the way that we lost,” he added.
Missing out on the Six Invitational 2025 due to mental struggles — and then winning RE:L0:AD — helped FURIA rediscover their winning spirit and extend their legacy in the scene. The former Bulls, now under FURIA, have been extremely consistent since then. Their third-place finish at the Siege X Esports World Cup 2025 and back-to-back stage wins in the South America League 2025 prove that point.
For those unaware, the Brazilians had always looked a bit uncomfortable when playing in their home region. In fact, across Copenhagen, Atlanta, and São Paulo, the lineup had only lost three out of 27 matches played – but lost the same tally in just 12 matches played at the Brazil League 2023.
This year, though, the lineup has been highly consistent in terms of results in their home region: FURIA have only lost five out of 25 matches played in the South America League 2025. Out of those five defeats, four came in the first stage of the season, meaning the Black Panthers’ form ahead of the BLAST R6 Major Munich is really sharp.
“We started to take this stage more seriously, before, of course, we took it seriously, but we wanted to qualify and that’s it. Now we just want to win every game. We don’t care if we have qualified already. We want to win more, we want to win more, we won’t stop working to do that. If we show tactics, show strats… it doesn’t matter. We’re just going to do even more, that change of mindset is what really took us to win the two stages.”
While historically FaZe Clan have been FURIA’s main archenemies, another team has taken over the honor this season: and that’s the players’ former home w7m esports.
Since RE:L0:AD, the two teams have met seven times — and the Black Panthers have won all seven encounters. As fate would have it, they also clashed at the Siege X Esports World Cup 2025, where the Bulls were just one round away from sending the Six Invitational 2024 champions home. However, it wasn’t meant to be.
When it looked like w7m esports were about to win the game and move to the playoffs bracket, Júlio “L0BIN” Gabriel’s missclick when covering the defuser while rappelling exposed his position, allowing Diogo “Kheyze” Zanelli to comfortably get the kill. Eventually, the Black Panthers won the map and the series. “They were playing better than us… they just choked. That’s the truth,” FelipoX said.
“They played a lot of maps already and they aren’t winning any of them, when they are doing the veto is tough for them, and also because we are perma-banning two of their best maps, which are Nighthaven and Consulate, so it narrows down to almost the same maps every time.”
The only tournament where the two teams didn’t meet was the Copa Sul-Americana 2025 — a highly regarded competition in Brazil that features both Tier 1 and Tier 2 teams, creating unique storylines and giving lower-tier rosters valuable experience against top-flight opponents. While the community may enjoy the watch, it really is a pain for some top flight rosters.
“Mickey mouse tournament,” FURIA’s IGL said. “Jokes aside, it's a cool tournament, the idea is cool. But I think the timing of the tournament is really bad, they put the tournament in the middle of the season and right before the playoffs,” he elaborated.
Eventually, FURIA were knocked out of the competition after defeats against FaZe Clan and Ninjas in Pyjamas.
“Of course against FaZe Clan we wanted to win but we didn’t do the preparation, we didn’t show the strats we were doing best… unconsciously, in your head, it’s like you don’t want to win, because you’re not doing the best to win, so how are you going to win the game,” he admitted. At the end of the day, teams must make decisions and prioritize some competitions above others; and that’s exactly what FURIA did.
One tournament they’ll certainly prioritize is the BLAST R6 Major Munich. After missing out on Montreal, Munich marks their first Major appearance in over a year.
Unlike previous Majors — particularly the ones they won in Year 8 — the BLAST R6 Major Munich will follow a new format, similar to the Six Invitational: for the first time, a Major will feature a double-elimination playoff bracket. Although many viewers have welcomed the change, the Brazilian IGL isn’t a fan.
“No, I don’t like it. I think every tournament should be played in a single-elimination playoffs like every other major sport. If you lose in the playoffs, you’re eliminated. I know in SI it has been like that for a long time now so it’s almost like a tradition, but I don’t like them putting the format in the Major, I really don’t like it,” he explained.
Be as it may, FURIA’s run in Munich will begin with a special match for FelipoX: a BO1 clash against Dplus.
The South Korean powerhouse is one of the most experienced lineups in the competition. In fact, the roster includes Major and Six Invitational champions. Still, after two stages in APAC North, even though we’re talking of a Brazilian roster, Dplus aren’t expected to go very far in Munich and FURIA are the favorites to start with a win.
The reason why FURIA’s game against Dplus will be special for the team’s IGL is because he will re-encounter with his former MIBR teammate Kaique “Faallz” Moreira. After the conclusion of the Six Invitational 2022 Brazil Qualifier, both players went different ways as FelipoX signed for w7m esports while Faallz stayed in MIBR.
“It’s very nice to face them because they have Faallz, who was a member of my previous team for a very long time, a teammate, and it’s a friend of mine, I really like him, so it’s going to be a fun match,” he concluded.
For more information about Ubisoft and Rainbow Six Siege X and the BLAST R6 Major Munich, make sure to stick with us here at Siege.gg, the best site for Rainbow Six Siege coverage.