Thorin on FURIA’s CS2 roster: “It feels like the roster is stuck in limbo.”
Journalist Duncan “Thorin” Shields and analyst Sam “Tech Girl” Wright discussed the situation surrounding FURIA, the impact of Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo’s plans to retire, and fans’ expectations for Danil “molodoy” Golubenko’s performance in the latest episode of the Feed The Trolls podcast.
On the situation with FURIA
Thorin: Every month they say something new. We’ve heard that YEKINDAR might become the IGL. Just recently, the team’s coach stated that the club would try to find a new captain, but there’s no such opportunity yet, so that role will likely go to YEKINDAR. The strangest thing is that the entire project is currently built around the assumption that FalleN will leave soon, and only after that will any decisions be made. It feels as though the roster is stuck in a state of limbo.
On FURIA’s Performance and Form
Tech Girl: I understand that he wanted to announce this to the fans in his hometown, Rio de Janeiro. I think the team already knew about his plans by that point. He stated that this is his last year on the professional scene. But I wonder if we’d even be discussing this now if he hadn’t made the announcement publicly. After FalleN’s announcement, FURIA’s results took a turn for the worse, and the team is looking terrible right now. That said, the slump didn’t start right away: at IEM Rio 2026, the team performed quite well, and at PGL Astana 2026, they made a lot of mistakes in their match against Team Falcons, even though the game itself was incredibly exciting to watch. In addition, FURIA took second place at the IEM Cologne Major 2026. You can argue all you want that the team got lucky with the bracket, but they still showed excellent form leading up to the grand final, where they were crushed by Team Falcons. After Cologne came BLAST Bounty 2026 Season 2, which wasn’t particularly interesting. They also performed well at the Esports World Cup 2026.
About molodoy
Thorin: Last year, the team’s fans—without meaning to—treated molodoy a bit unfairly. They saw that he posted incredible stats at two or three major tournaments—comparable to those of m0NESY and ZywOo—and thought, “Great, this is the new m0NESY or ZywOo.” After that, expectations skyrocketed, and fans wanted him to deliver those kinds of results at every tournament. But that’s completely unrealistic, since molodoy is a very young and inexperienced player who, on top of that, plays on an international roster.
Earlier, FURIA lost to G2 Esports 0–2 in the quarterfinals of FISSURE PLAYGROUND 3 — CS and was eliminated from the tournament. Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo’s team finished the tournament in 5th–6th place, earning $65,000 in prize money.
Photo: Esports Foundation.
