coolio: "We can beat the loser of G2 and Astralis, even though I'm playing"

Dust2.us Editor-in-Chief had the chance to speak with FUT coach András "coolio" Fercsák, who is playing in place of Laurențiu "lauNX" Țârlea at BLAST Rivals S1 2026, with the player missing out due to health issues.

coolio commented on his team's performance v. Vitality, the team's prospects in Fort Worth, and his return to the server for the first time since 2023.

Find the video interview below with a full transcription underneath. All questions and answers have been slightly edited for length and clarity.

Overall, a great showing from you guys, despite you standing in for lauNX. How are you feeling about your team's performance with you standing in?

I think we started a bit shaky on Mirage and that's why they beat us so easily. After, we had a good talk outside and we discussed what we needed to do better and that we could win on Dust2. It was crazy, to be honest, we beat this really long streak they had.

Then, we went to Nuke. We wanted to start on CT so badly because the T side is hard. I have to play outside, and it's a really hard position to fill. We won the pistol, insta-lose anti-eco, and they go 11-1. They were shooting like crazy. We had a good comeback and then trolled two rounds, sadly, and they won. Overall, we are happy; we don't have many expectations in this tournament.

Despite having low expectations without one of your star players. We saw a lot of strong play, overall, especially on Dust2 and Nuke. You mentioned ending that streak for Vitality. I think it's something like they hadn't lost Dust2 in 31 matches.

Did you feel like you had a good understanding of them heading into the match because they play Dust2 so much?

We knew what they liked to do. We were just trying to do our things, also. Basically, they had an off-game. Only ZywOo was playing on Dust2. I think we just played better on Dust2.

The loss on Nuke was very tough because you guys had a fantastic comeback there. You mentioned that you wanted to start on the CT side. Do you think we're going to see Nuke come out more from you guys in your next match, considering you did so well against Vitality on it?

It depends on who we play. We are preparing for our opponents, and then we will play the maps we think are the best for us.

A lot of people are writing off this team because you don't have your fifth. In some ways you guys aren't coming into this event with the highest expectations.

Now that we've seen you come this close to taking down Vitality, are you feeling like you could actually do some damage tomorrow against the loser of Astralis v. G2?

Yeah, we discussed that we probably had no chance to beat Vitality, but we had a good chance, to be honest. I think we can beat the loser of G2 and Astralis, even though I'm playing. Maybe it sounds egotistic, but I will just go back to the practice room, play more, and try to get into better shape.

We played Astralis two weeks ago, and we beat them easily in three maps. So, I think my players can do the job, and you can see on Dust2, I was playing well v. Vitality. If I have a good day, we can surprise them and beat them.

I have to ask, when you go back to the practice room, are you playing a lot of pugs? Are you doing aim training? What are you doing to get back into match fitness, considering you last played professionally in 2023?

First, we review as a team, and then after, I just play deathmatch and aimbotz. I just need more time, it's not easy because the movement feels so hard, but I think my aim is ok. It's so hard because everyone is moving insanely in this level, and then you need to counter-strafe and stuff. Yeah, I just try to play and do my best.

FUT will face the loser of G2 v. Astralis tomorrow at 11:00AM.