VCT LOCK//IN: FURIA’s qck says international teams should “watch out” for Brazil’s crowd pressure

FURIA's Gabriel "qck" Lima is eager to play in the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) LOCK//IN tournament in Brazil. The event will kick off in São Paulo on Feb. 13. The player shared his thoughts with Esports.gg about the first international event of 2023.

Qck said he's looking forward to entering the Ibirapuera Arena. He added that the Brazilian crowd will create a show like no other. With such high expectations, he also left a message to all the international teams coming to Brazil.

"The message to all the outside teams is to watch out with the Brazilian crowd because they will hear a lot. It's better to prepare the ears and the psychological," qck commented, noting that the crowd would affect the players. "Whether the crowd wants it or not, they get us hyped and also they get into the adversary [mindset]," he said.

FURIA will be one of the three Brazilian teams playing in the VCT LOCK//IN event. Like many others, they had roster changes to adapt to the new franchise league that will debut in 2023.

Despite changing only one player from last year's roster, FURIA had to work and adapt to new positions. That's because the player that left was Agustin "Nozwerr" Ibarra, the In-Game Leader (IGL) of the team. FURIA brought on Leonardo "mwzera" Serrati, but Matheus "mazin" Araújo will take on the role of captain.

"Even when Nozwerr was [on] the team, we already had many players passing calls inside the game, many assuming responsibilities when needed," qck said. "Mazin, for example, was one that already did a lot of this, so now he is our IGL and he will come through when needed."

With the captain position filled, FURIA was free to go after a talented player. To qck, mwzera became that person. Qck said that mwzera knows when to listen and when to share information.

"Mwzera was a sensational addition. Individually speaking, for me, he is the best in the world or one of the best," qck explained. "He is a guy that has an open mind to learn from his mistakes and to listen to us. And he also brought a lot of his experience with other teams, which added a lot."

The last tournament of 2022 for FURIA was the Champions. The team wasn't able to perform and, for that, they ranked last in Group D with two defeats and zero victories. According to qck, the performances of the squad in the internationals became the motivation for a different type of preparation.

"It may seem strange, but our team, in general, is always preparing more psychologically speaking than inside the game for a tournament," he said. "We failed a lot emotionally and psychologically in the [last Champions]. We started the matches well, having chances to close maps and not being able to do it."

Qck ended the interview by letting people know that this FURIA will be a different one. "We are more prepared psychologically to get better results. I think that for this international, [it's] a more mature FURIA, an adult FURIA."

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