We had the unique opportunity to interview Murillo “murizzz” Tuchtenhagen, IGL from MIBR ahead of their first match at the Valorant LOCK//IN São Paulo. We sought to understand what it was like to get to be on a franchised team, and how his old experiences helped change what he is today.

Murillo “murizzz” Tuchtenhagen

Many players want to play in the current VCT franchise system. How did it feel to know that you became part of a franchised team?

When I received the news that this transfer was going on (from Vivo Keyd to MIBR), I was very happy. The first thing I did was run and tell my family about it. Because, since the beginning of VALORANT, I have been constantly fighting to stay on top.

Even though 2022 was not such a good year for us (Vivo Keyd), the MIBR staff believed in our work and knew of the potential we had. That is why I felt so grateful to share this news with them. Each one accompanied me and understood everything I went through.

Lucas: You addressed the theme of the season in 2022, and your former team, VK, experiencing constant ups and downs.

How do you take the things you experienced in the past and bring them as an improvement, to the new year, with a new team, mainly being IGL?

Murizzz: In any project or team, even when we win, we learn lessons from defeats or downturns. No one makes mistakes with intention. We tried our best to get it right, but it ended up not working. When I think of me and my old team, we made a series of poor decisions, which led to our performance.

We have a strong focus for the year 2023. When we turned the page, we received an overwhelming amount of help from our new coach, bzkA. I can’t mention something specific that I felt was a wrong decision and which I will correct now, at MIBR. But I remember that we (Vivo Keyd) tried a lot of things. I think the main thing I could mention was the immediateness.

When v1xen and JhoW were switched to RHZ and RgLM (both players went to Ninjas in Pyjamas), we were looking for a quick change. However, what we had at hand were two good players, who didn’t have much professional experience in VALORANT. We tried something with a lot of immediacy, but it didn’t work out so well and ended up frustrating us. As a result, we were impacted and ended our year far from our main goals.

This was just a small example of the many things I learned throughout the year and throughout my career, which ultimately shaped me for this new year and new team.

Lucas: We know that LOCK/IN is being considered a test for the teams, which is the main championship at the moment. You will be getting to know each other, as there have been a lot of changes to the teams.

MIBR’s VALORANT roster from left to right: murizzz, jzz, TxoziN, bzkA, frz, heat and RgLM

We are aware that there is external pressure on expectations, mainly because they are playing in Brazil. Do you have any way of dealing with this?

Murizzz: Our expectation is, in fact, quite simple. We want to show you what we’ve been working on for the past two months. We do not expect unreasonable results. Because that would make us look bad. And the psychological work that we can undertake is mentalization. Our psychology team is always there to help us. We are always working to meet expectations from fans and arrive at the premiere prepared.

Lucas: In addition to the new meta, we have some nerfs on Chamber and some buffs on other agents. However, the biggest change is the new map, Lotus.

What do you think of this map? Do you believe that he is competitive and that he is capable of competing in the national championship?

Murizzz: I believe that Lotus is a highly competitive map. By the way, I identified with him a lot. Compared to Pearl, which was the penultimate map released, I thought it was a little strange once it was out on the server. We did a tactical job with Lotus, without having played too much on it, and it turned out that we fit the things we had planned on the map very well. It made sense, even with some differences at the time we were at stake, at the time of “let’s see”. I thoroughly enjoyed the map. Although its foundation is still unclear, I felt that we were able to understand. It may be that in three months everything will have changed and everything I said here will have gone down the drain. Nevertheless, I am confident in the map, I fell that we understand its purpose and we are well-suited.

What were the effects of the changes on agents, especially Chamber?

Murizzz: The nerf to Chamber has completely altered the meta of the game. All teams had to change their ways of working. The agent was able to close the map with his skills. The process of dealing with him was extremely difficult. With his nerf, our structure changed greatly, but we were able to work well. From our previous experiences, we (MIBR players) are comfortable with other agents.

MIBR is set to face Talon Esports in the opening round of VCT Lock//IN, tomorrow February 15, 2023.

Note: Interview originally conducted in Portuguese for esports.net/br/