Isso não é um adeus.Leo “ziGueira” Duarte quis deixar isso bem claro.Isso não é um adeus.Sim, ziGueira está se aposentando do cenário competitivo profissional de Rainbow 6 Siege. Mas ele não ficará longe do R6, nem de seus fãs. Na verdade, ele espera que sua nova carreira como streamer o aproxime ainda mais dos fãs que ele acumulou enquanto jogava pela nossa camisa nos últimos dois anos.Ele adorou jogar no palco principal do Six Invitational no início deste ano. Ele amava rir e zoar com seus companheiros de equipe. Mas às vezes as coisas precisam mudar.O gerente da equipe, Rafael "Rafa" Queiroz, sempre lembrará com carinho do tempo de ziG no time. Sua dedicação ao jogo. Sua determinação para vencer. E sua conexão com seus fãs. Entretanto Rafa disse a ziG que irá apoiá-lo, não importa o que aconteça. Ele não poderia estar mais feliz por ziG, enquanto aguarda para ver o próximo capítulo de sua vida e da sua carreira.Por isso, nos despedimos do ziGueira como jogador profissional no nosso time. Mas nós não vamos agradecê-lo pelo tempo que tivemos com ele e nem nenhuma daquelas coisas que você costuma ver nesses tipos de anúncios. O ziGueira está se aposentando. Mas definitivamente não é um adeus.Apesar de ziG deixar bem claro que ele não só continuará jogando Rainbow Six Siege, mas também irá interagir e se conectar com seus fãs mais do que nunca, ainda é uma grande mudança para Zig e sua equipe. Eles passavam todos os dias juntos. Praticando juntos. Comendo juntos. Melhorando juntos.Conversamos com o nosso gerente do R6, Rafael "Rafa" Queiroz, não apenas sobre o impacto de ziG na equipe, mas sobre o impacto da ausência do ziG.

So, why are you retiring?

I just got married in January. It’s been very hard being in San Paulo, while my wife, Anne, is one hour by plane. She stays alone in my hometown, Petropolis. So that made me sad sometimes. I was a little tired of being away from her. I want to have a child. Start a family. Esports was blocking me from doing this. That’s why I decided to retire.

I remember us talking about your tattoos a while ago, and you spoke about Anne a lot. Was she supportive of your R6 career?

She always supported me a lot. But you could tell. I was just so far. She would cry a lot. That was hard for me. She never told me to stop playing, but her body language... I could just tell.

Now that you are home with her, what are your plans?

Now that I’m back, the first I’m going to rest a little bit. Playing professionally is hard sometimes. I’m going to take three weeks or a month to rest. Then I’m going to build a gaming room here. I’m getting a new PC for streaming. That’s what I’m doing now.

That sounds like a great plan!

After that, we may travel a little bit. Go to the beach. After that, I’ll stream. And that’s it for now. The most important thing is just being together. Being in my hometown, Petropolis, is important to me.

How are you feeling about retiring from professional R6?

I am really happy. I’m at home. I’m with Anne. And I’m planning to continue playing by streaming, and help my teammates in R6. That’s why I’m happy. I’m still going to play R6, but I’ll be at home.

What is it about R6 that makes you want to keep playing?

It’s a really good game. I really love it. I’m really thankful for R6. It gave me my car, my house, I was able to get married. That’s all because of R6, my career. Maybe I’ll become a teacher for other players who want to become pros. I don’t know what will happen now, but I know I’ll be playing R6.

When did you start playing Rainbow Six?

Since 2015. I’ve been playing for four years now.

How did you get involved with the scene?

I started playing Battlefield professionally. But when R6 was released, I was invited to go to California to test it. I just loved it. It was a really nice game. I went back to Brazil and started playing right away.

What did you like about it?

It’s very tactical. It’s a tactical game. You have to use good strategies in order to win a game. You have to think a lot. And you have to think fast. That’s why I love this game.

What is one moment that stands out to you during your time playing on our R6 roster?

When we won Atlantic City [Pro League Year 3 Season 7]. It was the best moment in my career. We were champions, which was really nice. That was our goal at the time, and we did it. So it was a really nice moment. It was a good time. I was just so happy to be representing Team Liquid in this tournament.

How were the practices leading up to this moment? How was the team feeling?

We had a difficult time qualifying. People here in Brazil, they said that we would make it to the finals, but be eliminated after the first match. Everybody was saying that. So we trained so hard. We just wanted to shut up all the people that were telling us we wouldn’t make it. That was our fuel. We were connected in our want to win. We wanted to make them regret these words.

You felt you had a lot to prove.

After we won the first match, we said, ‘Oh my God!’ We knew we had to keep playing that way. And it worked.

Why do you think you guys had so many haters?

I think they were jealous, I don’t know. We had the biggest crowd in Brazil. The other teams were just jealous. They wanted the crowd. They wanted the support that we had.

Did you want to say anything to the fans that have supported and followed you all these years?

I am thankful for all the moments where we worked together and had our fans’ support. But this is not a goodbye. I’ll still be in R6. I’ll actually be more connected with my fans more than ever, on stream, talking on Twitch.

That’s awesome. You have been with your teammates a lot, living with them and practicing with them. How will you feel being away from them?

I will miss those guys. I miss them already. I’ve been home almost two weeks. We are all connected. We played together, ate breakfast and lunch together. We went to the gym together. The good memories we had… Us just laughing… It was good energy that I’ll miss. Moments that I’ll have in my mind my whole life. Keep supporting the boys!

Why did you enjoy working with Zig?

ZiG is the most professional esports player I have ever worked with. He is a shining example for other players to try to follow. He is not only a very dedicated player, but also an amazing influencer. On the personal side, I consider him as a friend, a very special person. He is honest, passionate and extremely funny. It is impossible to be with ZiG and not have a good time.

What were some of his strengths as an R6 player?

ZiG is a team player, and he never played for himself. It doesn't matter what the team needs, ZiG was always available to do it. Other than that, he is extremely intense, always motivating his teammates and as the most experienced pro player he also makes very smart decisions and has a good reading of the game and the opposite team during a match.

Was there anything he was known for on the team?

I would say that if the team is the engine, ZiG is the fuel for that engine. When he is playing well, he’s motivated, and his mind is good, it is impossible to not get hyped by him. He is a hard worker, the guy that is always pushing the team to the limit and the one that shows he wants to win more than anything. He is a pure competitor.

What is one memory (from outside the game) you have with ZiG that stands out to you?

It is impossible to not get emotional seeing ZiG dealing with his fans. Several times I saw ZiG doing good things for them, helping a few of them when they needed. Donating money, saying a good word, sending keyboards, mice, headsets for those that wants to follow the dream of becoming a pro player and always trying to be positive for them. It is awesome to see all that from behind the scenes and realize that being a good human being is above all things for him.

Any in-game/tournament moments?

Our Atlantic City title was the redemption for him. As he is the most famous player of the team, he is also a big target for the haters. Many times his pro player ability was put in perspective in a negative way from some of the fans, but ZiG always fought hard to be a Champion and people don't know how important he is for the whole team. Seeing him crying, happy and accomplishing the highest level title of his career was amazing.

How do you feel about his retirement?

It is going to be tough to not have him with us day by day. On the other hand, I am pretty happy for him. He finally will be able to be with his family and wife. Being away from them hurts ZiG a lot and I know that this decision wasn't easy to take. When he came to me and said that he couldn't make it anymore I just said: Don’t worry, I will support you and I am sure the team will do it too. So, I am sad to not have this amazing guy with us all the time, but also happy for everything that is about to come in his life, knowing that Liquid and us will always be in his heart.

This is not goodbye.Leo “ziGueira” Duarte wanted to make that very clear.This isn’t a goodbye.Yes, ziGueira is retiring from professional Rainbow 6 Siege. But he can’t stay away from R6. Or his fans. In fact, he hopes that his new streaming career will bring him even closer to the fans he’s accumulated while playing for us over the past two years.He loved playing on the main stage at the Six Invitational earlier this year. He loved laughing and goofing off with his teammates. But sometimes things have to change.The team’s manager, Rafael ”Rafa” Queiroz, will always look back fondly at ziG’s time on the team. His dedication to the game. His determination to win. And his connection to his fans. But Rafa told ziG he will support him no matter what. He couldn’t be happier for ziG as he looks forward to the next chapter in his life and career.So we do say farewell to ziGueira as a professional player on our roster. But we won’t thank him for the time we had with him. None of that stuff you usually see in these kind of announcements. ziGueira is retiring. But it’s definitely not goodbye.While ZiG has made it quite clear that he will not only continue playing Rainbow Six Siege, but interact and connect with his fans more than ever before, it’s still a big change for ZiG and his team. They spent every day together. Practicing together. Eating together. Improving together.We spoke with our R6 manager, Rafael ”Rafa” Queiroz, not only about ZiG’s impact on his team, but about the impact of ZiG’s absence.