The news that FURIA has reportedly reached out to Imperial to inquire about signing FalleN has sparked a debate in the Counter-Strike community, especially the Brazilian scene, on whether the veteran would be an improvement for the No. 1 team in the country.
This is because FalleN is past his prime and has been hinting he wants to retire since 2022. FURIA have also been the best team in Brazil since 2019 without ever playing under his calls.
Related: Struggling Brazilian squad reportedly eyeing legend FalleN ahead of CS2 launch
But even though FalleN doesn’t have the same in-game impact as he had in 2016 and 2017—the years in which he led Luminosity Gaming and later SK Gaming to win several tier-one events, including back-to-back Majors in 2016—the move is a no-brainer, especially because of all the marketing possibilities FURIA will have to cement itself as the No. 1 team in Brazil heading into Counter-Strike 2’s release this summer.
The more I think about FURIA plus FalleN, the more it makes sense in my head. Here is why FURIA should shake up things during its slump and sign FalleN for the rest of 2023.
Why FalleN is a good addition for FURIA
FalleN has an enormous fan base
FalleN is, without a doubt, the biggest name in Brazilian Counter-Strike. He put Brazil on the map in the first place thanks to teaching multiple players, being a part of the first Brazilian team to play overseas in CS:GO, helping other players move to the U.S., and keeping the community together even when CS:GO had not taken off in Brazil during 2012 and 2013.
Although FURIA have been the best Brazilian team since 2019 and never allowed FalleN’s teams to bounce back, they still don’t enjoy as much popularity as the godfather of Brazilian Counter-Strike does. Partially, this is because FalleN guided Brazil to two Major wins and FURIA have never won anything newsworthy on LAN. But it’s also because of his big personality, which is something that FURIA’s current roster lacks.
More fans, for example, tune in to watch Imperial’s matches than FURIA’s, at least on the Brazilian broadcast spearheaded by Gaules. In 2022, Imperial and FalleN helped Gaules set a new record for Portuguese-language streams during the Imperial vs. Cloud9 match at the PGL Antwerp Major, peaking at 707,688 concurrent viewers.
Should FURIA get FalleN, the team would have more fans on their side than ever. They already have a loyal fan base that would get truly multiplied by the FalleN effect.
FalleN could expand FURIA’s tactical book
FURIA rose to prominence in the CS:GO scene in 2019 thanks to their characteristic aggressive playstyle embodied by in-game leader Andrei “arT” Piovezan. Their relentless pushes caught the majority of other teams off guard at first and were enough to make FURIA a solid top-10 squad in the world.
Related: FURIA HEN1 on arT’s playstyle: “Sometimes we call him crazy”
The lack of the capability to adapt during matches and switching to a more strict playstyle, however, has ultimately kept FURIA away from scoring any relevant trophies on LAN in the eyes of fans. FURIA, for example, have been trying to incorporate more set strategies lately, but they were eliminated from the BLAST Paris Major in May with a 0-3 record and have already been knocked out of IEM Dallas before the playoffs.
FalleN, on the other hand, is known for playing classic Counter-Strike with long default setups and a number of predefined executions for each map on the T-side. Should FURIA get FalleN to replace someone like AWPer Rafael “saffee” Costa and leave him in charge of the in-game leadership, the veteran could teach the rest of the FURIA players a style they have never mastered and mix it up with their known aggressive playstyle when needed.
FalleN almost has as much of an impact as FURIA’s AWPer saffee
While FalleN isn’t on top of his individual game like he was in 2016 and 2017, he wouldn’t diminish FURIA’s firepower at all, should he replace saffee. Both of them have averaged almost identical statistics in the past 12 months against the top 30 teams in the world.
| FalleN’s numbers in the past 12 months | Saffee’s numbers in the past 12 months |
| 1.02 rating | 1.03 rating |
| 70.5 percent Kills, Assists, Survived, Traded (KAST) | 70 percent KAST |
| 1.03 K/D ratio | 1.07 K/D ratio |
| 67.1 ADR | 66.7 ADR |
If anything, FalleN’s numbers are great in comparison to saffee’s. The former plays for Imperial—a considerably weaker team than FURIA—and is the shot-caller, while the latter only focuses on his individual game.
The verdict
The marketing avenues that the signing of FalleN would open for FURIA should be enough to explain the move. It would allow FURIA as an organization to cement itself as the top team in Brazil heading into CS2, regardless of results.
And the move also makes sense from a competitive standpoint as FURIA have stagnated following their semifinal run at the IEM Rio Major in November 2022. They haven’t won anything notable so far despite being a solid top-10 team in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. So if FalleN fails to guide them to a trophy, fans wouldn’t pin it on him. And FURIA could at least save face and say it tried to incorporate a different playstyle.
Independently of the competitive results, nobody in Brazil would blame FalleN and FURIA for joining forces at a time when the country is struggling to stay relevant in the scene.
