FalleN: "If I'm gonna play I'm definitely gonna move to Europe"

The Brazilian veteran spoke to HLTV about his future plans amidst interest from FURIA and paiN, as well as Imperial's upset win over Vitality.

Imperial have kicked off the BLAST Premier Spring Final in style, bringing down tournament favorites Vitality in a 2-0 series and ending their 12-match and 14-map winning streaks to an end in the process.

Following the match HLTV had the chance to catch up with Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo, who explained that the keys to the upset win were Imperial's stellar individuals as well as his own calling.

"I think what decided the match is just superb form, hitting shots and showing many different faces. It's tough for them because we showed so much different stuff that it was hard for them to get a good read," he said when talking about Imperial's stunning 16-3 win on Overpass. "I think I called super well and the boys played amazingly," he added.

FalleN also spoke about the lack of pressure at the tournament playing a key factor in their win, which stems from possible changes inside the team in the near future. The veteran himself has had a lot of interest around him and has recently confirmed that he is due to have talks with FURIA and paiN.

In the interview with HLTV, FalleN outlined three questions he is looking to answer for himself in these talks: whether he wants to keep competing, how to balance his personal and professional life, and if so, finding the best fit in terms of the new team around him.

Read the full interview or listen to it in audio form below:

Such an amazing game from you and especially the first map. You were talking about Overpass being your best map on the desk and showing it here, can you tell me about the game plan facing off against a team that has just won two tournaments in a row and taking them down in such dominant fashion?

Yeah, Overpass is definitely one of our best maps, from the last iteration as well. I think it's a map that we have a good knowledge on how to approach it. We definitely played to our strengths, a little bit of understanding of how they approach the game, some of their options, openings, but overall I think what decided the match is just superb form. Hitting the shots and playing many different faces. It's tough for them because we showed so much different stuff that it was hard for them to get a good read on what we were doing.

And chelo, obviously, went huge.

Yeah, chelo and JOTA played amazingly. One of their best games in Imperial so far.

It came down to the last round on Vertigo, when it looked like Vitality were going to pull off the comeback. What was the adjustment toward the end to finally get it over the line?

Honestly, Vertigo was a completely different story. It was more about the passion and more getting difficult round wins to manage to beat a team like that on this map. It's map that we don't have the same understanding of as we do on Overpass. It's actually a very different map in terms of how you should approach it. It's much more skill-based, it's much more reagression, fighting, so you cannot outplay a team so much on Vertigo as you can on Overpass.

Starting off with such big scalp and you have G2 or Cloud9 in the next match for first place in the group. How much confidence does this win fill you with heading further into the tournament?

It does help us a lot. I think it helps the mental state of the team and I think the mental state is one of the things that actually made us win this game. It's super difficult for me personally to be still trying to compete on a high level every day, trying to perform, the kind of obsession of getting better again, while not being able to have a personal life. It really drains you, so I feel like I'm seeing a progression in my personal life where I can make some choices where I can manage both things at the same time, it kinda gives me a relief and help play better, and of course call better as well when I have a better atmosphere. So the mental state is very, very important in life, of course, but in Counter-Strike it is a little bit underestimated. People don't talk too much about it.

As we go to the next match, as long as we don't think we're on the same level of those guys yet and still play with passion, still accepting that hard things are coming and we can deal with them one at a time and we can still do some damage in the tournament.

So it's all about keeping that underdog mentality?

That's definitely very necessary for us at the moment. We don't have the experience in the team to be playing as a favorite, so people better not have this win get to their heads.

You were talking about the lack of pressure because of a lot of possible future changes, for yourself as well. Is that how you are approaching this tournament, without pressure?

The main difference is the fact that we know that this could be one of the last competitions of this team together, it could be one of the last CS:GO competitions. There's so much transition coming that definitely changed the landscape a little bit. But I think it would be a little bit superficial to just say that. I think the fact that those things are happening is making us personally and individually see things a little bit different. Even when we are discussing how we should play, we're giving feedback to each other on what we can do better, less resistance in that so we can still talk about what needs to be talked about instead of circling, as it happened in the past. Plus, the fact that I think this team really needs an A shape in-game leading, today I think I called super well and the boys played amazingly, so all those things together made us play well and hopefully we can do that together again.

You've been talking about your future and confirmed there have been or will be talks with FURIA, paiN, Imperial all being in the mix. What are you looking for in these talks? You've obviously been hinting at retirement for a long time and whether you still want to compete. What are your priorities and what do you want from these talks?

The first thing is deciding, do I still want to compete or not, right? I have been competing for the last 20 years and I do have many different things I could be doing. I could rather have my company in Brazil, family company, we're doing well, and there are so many more things we want to do. There is so much more we can do for CS and I have plans for the future. So, is it the time to trigger all those things I wanna do or is it time to still compete? Or, can we do some of it in the meanwhile? The first question is this one.

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The second question is, the way I have been approaching my life in terms of staying with my wife — we're gonna have a marriage at the end of the year, but we already married because of visa stuff and all those things, but we're gonna do a proper marriage at the end of the year. It's a moment in your life where you have to do some stuff differently, you just can't marry someone after 12 years and not be at home forever. It's impossible, so you gotta transition some stuff. I'm still considering, if I'm gonna play I'm definitely gonna move to Europe. I think that's the way to go if you wanna play well. I'm hoping that moving to Europe is going to allow me to practice like I'm practicing at boot camps every time I'm traveling while at home, competing in some online tournaments while at home. And then eventually traveling. So I see an opportunity there to compete more, if that's what I really wanna look for.

The third question is having a good lineup that I can trust and that have a good mix together, making sure that the financial conditions are good in terms having a life and can still pay the bills, get some money, get the deserved attention that matters. Another good factor is that I have a lot of business around me and depending on how the orgs are approaching that, how much they wanna incorporate my stuff, that does help as well. There are a lot of things to be discussed. I have to think about my wife, I have to think about my career, my family. For me it's not only sit there and play CS for so long, it's always tough for me.