After an exciting 2020 for FURIA Esports in which their Counter-Strike roster dominated regional NA competition for roughly the entire year, they’re hopping on the latest trend for 2021 and trying out a six-man lineup. FURIA announced the addition of Lucas “honda” Honda to their main roster on January 14th, elevating him up from their FURIA Academy lineup.
FURIA's new sixth man will step in for Junior at BLAST. Image via FURIA Esports.
In the announcement on Twitter, they stated that they were looking forward to a “great opportunity for a young talent to shine.” The young player only joined the FURIA Academy roster just a month prior to being moved up to the main roster. The main roster features two players that were also promoted from the Academy back in 2018, Vinicius “VINI” Figueiredo and Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato. Honda will be given a time to shine immediately at the BLAST Global Final, as he will compete in the place of FURIA’s new AWPer Payton “Junior” Johnson. Junior is unable to attend due to issues with his passport.
When the 2020 Counter-Strike scene switched over to regional online events in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, FURIA took advantage of the situation and went on a hot streak. Starting in the summer, the Brazilian squad collected a treasure trove of trophies and beat out top teams like Liquid and Evil Geniuses while doing so. They claimed victory at the BLAST Spring and Fall Showdowns (qualifying for the Global Final), ESL Pro League Season 12, and both DreamHack Spring and Summer.
To begin 2021, however, AWPer Henrique “HEN1” Teles was moved to the bench by mutual agreement, as he’s been reportedly linked to the new ex-MiBR project. Less than a week later, they announced the acquisition of Junior from North American team Triumph. Junior should have his passport issues sorted out before their next big tournament after the BLAST Premier Global Final, which is the IEM Katowice World Championship.
