FURIA opened their BLAST Open Rotterdam campaign with a 2-0 victory over TYLOO. The Brazilian side controlled Mirage comfortably before needing to fight late on Overpass, a map that went the distance after TYLOO rallied from an 8-2 deficit.
The result marked FURIA’s first outing since they were eliminated in Stage 2 of the ESL Pro League. That defeat to Astralis in the 2-2 pool ended a run of ten consecutive events in which FURIA had progressed to the playoffs.
Ahead of Pro League, the organisation knew head coach Sid "sidde" Macedo would be prepared to step in for captain Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo in the playoffs if that situation arose. Despite that, Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato rejected the idea that FalleN’s possible absence should be used to excuse FURIA’s struggles in Stage 2.
KSCERATO said the team’s problems ran deeper than a single missing player. He pointed to experimental tactics, communication breakdowns and general issues that surfaced during the tournament, and stressed those factors were the core reasons behind their poor showing.
He described the Pro League event as a testing ground to discover what works and what does not. In practice environments, he said, teams often practice unconventional pushes and timings that do not faithfully reproduce the dynamics of a real match, so scrims can be misleading.
On the subject of FURIA’s T side, KSCERATO acknowledged it remains tricky. He explained that while scrims include many varied maneuvers, tournament reality can differ drastically, and the team still needs more effective, match-ready preparation.
KSCERATO added that even when the team believes they have fixed something, lack of proper practice can prevent those fixes from showing up under match conditions. As a result, FURIA are working on improving their practice routines and preparing specific counters to the kinds of tactics they face.
FalleN had spent a few days in Brazil for a personal commitment before rejoining the squad on Tuesday. Although his absence affected Rotterdam preparations, KSCERATO said the unplanned break provided benefits by allowing the team to decompress after the Pro League.
He said the downtime helped the players regain perspective and return in a more grounded, humble frame of mind. Sometimes preparation, he argued, is less about logging hours on maps and more about getting into the right headspace and rebuilding confidence.
With TYLOO dispatched, FURIA now move on to face Aurora in Group A’s upper semi-final, with a place in the playoffs at stake. The upcoming tie renews a recent rivalry: the teams last met at IEM Kraków, where FURIA recorded a straight-sets 2-0 victory.
KSCERATO described Aurora as a solid, well-practiced unit whose long-standing chemistry allows them to play to each other’s strengths and cover weaknesses. He predicted an entertaining match and noted the veto process will be important, as both sides are likely to target similar maps.
The BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026 schedule lists the Aurora versus FURIA upper semi-final for 20/03/2026 at 19:30 local time, with the winner progressing to the playoffs.
Overall, FURIA appear to have used the short break after Pro League to recalibrate. The team’s leaders and coaching staff will be hoping the work they’ve described translates into sharper performances as they pursue another deep run in Rotterdam.