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FaZe Clan began its journey in the BLAST R6 Major Copenhagen with a 7-5 victory against MNM Gaming. Despite Fatih "Solotov" Türker going berserk with a SiegeGG rating of 1.58 and 16 kills to his name, the FaZe Clan rookie Thiago "Handyy" Ferreira saved the day for the Brazilians.
The 20-year-old made his professional debut one year ago with FURIA Esports. Since then, the player has proved himself as one of the most exciting talents in Brazil, alongside his brother Felipe "nade" Ferreira, who's part of w7m esports.
"I learnt many things at FURIA and the most valuable lesson I could take to FaZe Clan is that every esperience is a lesson," Handyy explained in a pre-Major interview with SiegeGG.
Throughout his first and only season as a panther, the Brazilian represented the organization at the Six Charlotte Major and at the Six Berlin Major. Unfortunately for FURIA Esports, the roster missed out on the Six Jönköping Major and the Six Invitational 2023. Eventually, the brand decided to leave the Rainbow Six Siege esports scene.
From his time at FURIA Esports, Handyy is especially grateful to Rennan "R4re" Vitor, with whom he learnt "self-knowledge", and Rafael "RafadeLL" de Oliveira, who only worked with him for the last stage of the season. "He was a guy who was in the team for two months in my life who made a ridiculous difference to how I saw the game."
Following his time under FURIA Esports, FaZe Clan signed the young player. He was given the chance to represent one of Rainbow Six Siege's powerhouses after only one season as a professional. So far, so good.
Handyy finished the Brazil League Stage 1 2023 averaging a SiegeGG rating of 0.97 and an entry balance of 15-10 (+5). His best performances came during the group stage, where the Brazilian was the best rated player against LOS oNe and Magic Squad. In the grand final against Team Liquid, Handyy went 6-0 (+6) on entries, which was crucial for FaZe Clan.
However, he was not the only signing for FaZe Clan before the start of the 2023 season, as Eduardo "KDS" Chiste also joined the red squad. "Playing with KDS was something that, to be honest, never crossed my mind. When I had the chance (of playing with KDS), I was surprised."
According to Handyy, his former teammate at FURIA Esports left him "speechless." "One of the best things in life is being able to divide a day with him. As a player, he can't be defined. With his unique habilities, he was a very followed player."
Statistically, KDS was the second-best player of the stage for FaZe Clan, with a SiegeGG rating of 1.05 -- only behind Jaime "Cyber" Ramos' 1.19, who finished the stage with a K-D of 124-91 (+33) and an entry balance of 31-21 (+10).
Looking back at his adaptation to the team, Handyy explained. "The adaptation was natural, you feel comfortable after the start and feel like you are in the right place."
"It's easy when you understand what the team needs and when the players understand the coach. Ramalho as a coach and VITAKING as an IGL, they make a lot of sense to me in their way to think. I was aligned to their thought and playstyle, that made it easier."
FaZe Clan headed to the BLAST R6 Major Copenhagen with only one defeat this season, against Ninjas in Pyjamas. It was during the group stage, and was the cause to why the roster finished in second place despite defeating Team Liquid.
"The problem of our only loss was a problem that we had some times during training: action and reaction. We must know when to act and answer, and understand what to do. We knew about this problem, and during the game it was clear that was our main issue. We worked on it."
Now, after becoming champions of the Brazil League 2023 Stage 1, FaZe Clan are ready to prove themselves internationally. Handyy was the best player against MNM Gaming with a SiegeGG rating of 1.29 and a KOST of 75. Despite his performance, Fatih "Solotov" Türker's SiegeGG rating of 1.58 was the best in the match -- although not enough to save the marshmallows.
"I don't think there's much difference in playstyle, the difference is in how the decisions are taken during the match, both individually and collectively," he concluded.
Today, FaZe Clan will face Spacestation Gaming, who defeated the current world champions, G2 Esports, in the first day of the BLAST R6 Major Copenhagen.