dziugss: “I’ll lose my first match at a Major at the very next Major.”
Daniil Korzhuev
FUT Esports rifler Dziugss Steponavičius commented on the team’s advancement to the third stage of the tournament in an interview at IEM Cologne Major 2026, discussed preparations for G2 Esports, and shared his impressions of his debut Major.
On advancing to the third stage
I’m not surprised. We prepared well for the tournament and don’t see this as anything special, so there’s no extra pressure. Everything’s fine.
On the crushing victory on Ancient in the match against G2 Esports
Nothing special. The coach just said we needed to reset after losing a map. We play well on Ancient, we’ve practiced it, so we just went out there, showed our CS, and took them apart.
On picking Anubis against G2 Esports
We practiced a lot on Anubis. And we saw that G2 isn’t that good on this map, and I think they haven’t played it much either, so we just picked it.
On the team’s prospects at the Major
I think I’ll lose my first match at the Major at the very next Major.
On his debut performance at the Major
I was a little nervous during the first match, but then I talked myself down and just focused on the game, that’s all. I told myself, “This is just a regular tournament; it happens twice a year, and that’s it—it’s just a tournament.”
- Read also: donk commented on Team Spirit’s advancement to the third stage of the IEM Cologne Major 2026
Earlier, FUT Esports defeated G2 Esports 2-1 and finished the second stage of the tournament with a 3-0 record. Thus, the team led by “dziugss” Steponavičius advanced to Stage 3 and will continue their fight for the championship title there.
Photo — Stephanie Lindgren, BLAST.
Daniil Korzhuev
