“Every Time We Lose, It Becomes Personal”: Exhausted After Back-to-Back Trophies, FURIA Coach sidde Reveals How The MongolZ Shaped Their CS2 Playbook at IEM Beijing
Lifting back-to-back international trophies in Malta and Romania before boarding a long-haul flight to China leaves heavy miles on the body, yet it has done nothing to dull FURIA's appetite for payback. Speaking alongside his team's qualification for the IEM Beijing 2026 playoffs on Counter-Strike 2, Brazilian head coach Sid "sidde" Macedo opened up about the competitive grudge that fueled their revenge over Natus Vincere, the brutal physical toll of the autumn LAN circuit, and the unexpected rival that helped shape their tactical playbook.
"Every Time We Lose, It Becomes Personal": Settling the Bucharest Score Against NAVI
Before touching down in Beijing for the $1.25 million tournament, the squad led by Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo was already riding the hottest streak of its season after capturing two consecutive titles: the Thunderpick World Championship 2026 ($500,000) and the PGL Masters Bucharest 2026 crown. Even with the Bucharest trophy in hand, one blemish still stung inside the locker room: a 0-2 Swiss Stage loss to Natus Vincere (NAVI) in Romania (10-13 on Ancient, 5-13 on Dust2).
Drawing Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen's roster in the Group A Upper Bracket semifinal in Beijing immediately turned into a statement game. After FURIA reverse-swept NAVI from a 9-3 deficit on Nuke behind a clutch 1v3 from Danil "molodoy" Golubenko on Cache (12-16, 16-12, 13-10), sidde explained how deeply his players take every defeat:
"I would say the mentality as well, because every time we lose against someone, we just need to get revenge. That's how we are. Every time we lose against someone, it becomes personal, you know? I had a very strong mentality for this game. We knew we could have beaten them in Bucharest, but we just weren't there that day. Today we wanted to prove that we can beat these guys, that we can be the best team here. I think the strong mentality is what helped us the most."
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"I'm Close to Dead": The Physical Cost of Deep Tournament Runs
Blending young Kazakh AWPer molodoy and Latvian entry rifler Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis with FURIA's Brazilian core of FalleN, Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato, and Yuri "yuurih" Santos has raised the roster's ceiling dramatically, but the calendar is showing no mercy. Reaching back-to-back best-of-five grand finals (beating BetBoom 3-2 in Malta and Nemiga 3-2 in Bucharest) wiped out any recovery window between continents.
Asked how the squad is holding up physically amid the jet lag and non-stop LAN matches, sidde did not sugarcoat the exhaustion: "I'm close to dead. That's how tired I am, to be honest." The grind will not slow down after Beijing either, with FURIA scheduled to fly straight to BLAST Rivals in Hong Kong before heading into the PGL CS2 Singapore Major and its best-of-five playoff format.
Studying The MongolZ: "There's a Lot of Their Game in Ours"
Beyond the locker-room fire, the 28-year-old coach shared a revealing look into how FURIA built its current international system. When transitioning the five-man unit to English communication and restructuring their mid-round protocols, the coaching staff looked closely at Asian powerhouse The MongolZ.
"We understand a lot of their structure because we study their game a lot to build our own structure. So there's a lot of their game in ours."
That tactical mirror match played out in the Group A Upper Bracket final on the official ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike 2 circuit. After FURIA claimed the opener on Inferno (13-10), The MongolZ answered back on Cache (13-8) and edged out a narrow decider on Dust2 (13-11) to secure the direct semifinal seed.
FURIA's Autumn Trophy Run and IEM Beijing 2026 Playoff Path
| Tournament / Stage | Key Opponent | Result | Stakes & Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderpick World Championship 2026 | BetBoom Team (Bo5 Final) | Won 3-2 | Reverse-swept from 1-2 down in Malta to claim $500,000 |
| PGL Masters Bucharest 2026 | NAVI (Swiss) / Nemiga (Final) | Lost 0-2 / Won 3-2 | Early Swiss loss to NAVI followed by the Bo5 championship trophy |
| IEM Beijing 2026 (Group A Semifinal) | Natus Vincere (NAVI) | Won 2-1 | Bucharest revenge (12-16, 16-12, 13-10) to clinch an arena playoff berth |
| IEM Beijing 2026 (Group A Final) | The MongolZ | Lost 1-2 | Placed into quarterfinals (13-10 Inferno, 8-13 Cache, 11-13 Dust2) |
| IEM Beijing 2026 (Quarterfinal) | BetBoom Team (November 6) | Bo3 Playoff Match | Thunderpick Grand Final rematch for a semifinal spot against MOUZ |
My Take
Hearing sidde openly credit The MongolZ for inspiring FURIA's structural rebuild tells me everything about why this roster is suddenly lifting trophies again. For years, Brazilian Counter-Strike teams were trapped between nostalgia and overly chaotic aggression that top European IGLs picked apart in playoff brackets. Dropping the ego, studying how The MongolZ trade space, and letting YEKINDAR and molodoy play off FalleN's calling has turned FURIA into a genuine championship threat.
Still, you cannot ignore the red warning light flashing on their dashboard. When a head coach riding a two-trophy winning streak admits he feels "close to dead" before the Beijing playoffs, Hong Kong, and the Singapore Major have even peaked, burnout is knocking at the door. Facing BetBoom in the quarterfinals on November 6,the exact squad FURIA denied $500,000 in Malta,will test whether pure competitive spite can keep overriding empty fuel tanks.
SEO consultant for over 20 years and digital entrepreneur, Charles "Grimtag" is the founder of Pro-Gamer.gg, Retrocharting.com, and Gamescharting.com. A competitive gamer, streamer, and retro game collector, he has worked in the video game industry for over 15 years, notably as a consultant for leading game price comparison platforms. Passionate about real-time performance data and gaming technology, he analyzes competitive esports, gaming hardware benchmarks, and creator workflows on Pro-Gamer.gg with an authentic player perspective.
